Todd Edwardson was sitting on his living room couch watching CBC News Tuesday morning when he inadvertently became one of the day's top stories.

Around 7:30 a.m. ET, a white SUV slammed through the picture window behind him, crushing a desk and coming to rest a mere half-metre from where he sat inside his Nautica Private rowhouse, just off Carling Avenue in Ottawa's Crystal Beach neighbourhood.

"[I heard] a big exploding bang. I didn't know what it was. Then there was all the glass and metal and everything around me," Edwardson said. "I've been a little shaken ever since."

The driver, a woman whose age hasn't been released, was taken to hospital in stable condition with unspecified injuries. She was the only occupant of the vehicle at the time of the crash, police said.

The SUV jumped a neighbour's stone steps and took out the casing around a pillar supporting an upper balcony before crashing into Edwardson's home.

Collision at Nautica Private & Carling Avenue required Collapse Rescue firefighters to stabilize structure. Vehicle removal was a meticulous operation because of vehicle proximity to support structure. Yellow poles shown are shoring installations deployed by firefighters <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ottnews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ottnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/36REwIxWrT">pic.twitter.com/36REwIxWrT</a> —@OttFire

"Todd called me and told me I had to come home right away," said his wife, Kerry Surman. "I thought maybe it was because it was his birthday. It turns out he was almost killed by a car."

Todd Edwardson and Kerry Surman say the crash may cause them to reconsider where they live. 0:46

Firefighters used temporary supports to make sure the structure was stable before removing the vehicle.

The SUV was towed out around 9:20 a.m., leaving a gaping hole in the home which was soon covered with plastic.

Surman said the couple won't be able to return home for some time.