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Newt

Joined: 10/08/1999 Posts: 33416
Likes: 9085


Deers


On February 6, 1986, my wife and I learned that her parents’ photography studio in Rockville was destroyed by fire, and her parents were lucky to escape alive. Her mother was able to run out the front of the strip mall office space, but her father was in the back with flames blocking easy escape. So he felt his way to the door of the interior mall hall and used his arm to feel the wall until he found the outside door. Once outside, he became distraught as he watched his life’s work burn. All of his photography equipment that he had painstakingly acquired in a career that included photographing the Nuremberg Trials and countless portraits he created for government officials were all melting away. So he ran back in…

Word was that he realized there was no way to save the stuff so he turned to crawl out and the flames began grabbing for his arms, legs and head. By the time he staggered out, he was critically burned and had to be airlifted to Georgetown Hospital’s burn unit. His prognosis wasn’t very good.

My wife and I got the word that evening and began making plans to drive from Greene County to McLean; however, we wouldn’t be able to leave until after work the following day. Elementary teachers couldn’t just up and leave in a family crisis back in those days. You had to secure a substitute and create meaningful plans. This takes some time, which wasn’t available to us until after school that next day.

So after all planning was complete and subs retained, we left for McLean the following day at around 4:30pm. It had been a long day filled with worry and stress. In these pre-cell phone days, information was often hard to come by. Our drive up Rt. 29 was quiet. Until…

We’d had a large snow that first week of February. Deep drifts framed the highway, but the main roads were clear. As we approached Warrenton/Gainesville (pre bypass) in the early evening darkness, I found myself in need of passing a car that was travelling at 53 mph. I was going 55 mph in my affordable 2-door 1982 Ford Escort. Speed limits were still set at the double nickels back then to save energy, you know.

I slid over to the left lane and began the slow pass and noted that the small sedan had another young couple in it. Just as I edged fully ahead of the car, a pack of deer blasted across the median from the west side of the road and slammed in to the side of my car. There was no time to react. A couple of the deer jumped over my hood, but one deer really smashed hard right beside me. The car swerved from the impact, not from anything I did and began skating, doing a 180 degree turn and passing headlight-to-headlight with the car we were passing.

In that moment, time froze for my wife and me. I remember looking through the windshield of the car were passing and saw the horror in their eyes. I glanced at my wife and saw her glance at me, both of us smashed into the seat by our locked seatbelts.

The car continued its journey across the right lane, missing the car we passed by centimeters or less before slamming with some force into a two-feet snow bank on the side of the road, facing the wrong way. Headlights still on. Engine gurgling before the lack of clutch sputtered it out. Back down the highway, the first thing we saw was the deer that slammed into us writhe around on the pavement before gaining his legs and blasting off into the snow-covered field after leaping a barbed wire fence, chasing after his friends.

The other couple stopped and checked on us before driving off to find a pay phone in which to call the police. We were fine. Shaken but, miraculously, fine. About five minutes later, a state trooper arrived on the scene, and we inspected my car for damage. The deer had smashed the front left door pretty well, but it still managed to open. Fur was embedded in the door lock. The rear quarter panel was destroyed by the snow bank and was impinging the left rear tire. But there were no fluid leaks, tires were all still inflated and the engine cranked successfully. So the trooper helped me pull the rear fender away from the tire, and he gave us his blessing to finish our journey. He followed us the rest of the way to I-66 before peeling off with a thumbs up.

When we arrived at her parents’ home, we were greeted by my father-in-law. Smiling and praising Jesus. Miraculously, his burns, which had appeared life-threatening, were almost healed. In one day. His tale about how that happened still haunts me and is a story for another day.

So, Ronald Reagan’s birthday always refreshes memories from that bizarre, traumatic time.

(In response to this post by VaAkita)

Posted: 09/18/2018 at 1:57PM



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Current Thread:
 
  
Have you ever hit a deer with your car? Your story? -- VaAkita 09/18/2018 09:10AM
  I had a deer jump over my car ** -- MEHOKIE 09/19/2018 07:02AM
  Back in about 1987,I was -- VTUD 09/18/2018 10:11PM
  Deers -- Newt 09/18/2018 1:57PM
  Saw an incident on WB 460 east of Lynchburg -- TomTurkey 09/18/2018 12:13PM
  Next to Cop car that hit one. Missed me. -- MontyPythokie 09/18/2018 11:05AM
  That 6 foot truck tire tread will really get after ya -- TomTurkey 09/18/2018 11:04AM
  Dang, thats brutal.... for all of you. ** -- DonHo-kieHi 09/18/2018 12:20PM
  Several small snakes in my day -- TomTurkey 09/18/2018 11:09AM
  Oh, the carnage! ** -- YardBird 09/18/2018 10:32AM
  I was behind an old Ford truck that hit one in Pungo VA. -- 132863Hokie 09/18/2018 09:57AM
  A former co-worker had a deer hit him. He's driving through -- Late 80s Hokie 09/18/2018 09:53AM
  Yep, when I lived in Leonardtown, MD -- EDGEMAN 09/18/2018 09:45AM
  That’s an elusive little creature . . . -- YardBird 09/18/2018 09:32AM
  I hit one going about 20 to 25 mph in my neighborhood. -- Guy LeDouche 09/18/2018 09:32AM
  Did you do a Homer Simpson and say "Doe!...." -- Late 80s Hokie 09/18/2018 09:55AM
  Yep, that sounds about right. ** -- HortHokie 09/18/2018 10:16AM

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