Moose Mishap Leads Man To Whistle While He Drives
Whistling in the dark may be the answer. David Hunt is willing to give it a try rather than risk another head-on collision on a dark road with a galloping moose.
“The whistles go on the car bumper. The wind goes through them and the high-pitched sound warns deer, moose, elk,” David says, doggedly squeezing his words through his wired jaw.
David hit the moose Aug. 13 and still mourns its death despite his own pain. He blames himself. The moose probably was heading for food or water when David’s 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit plowed into it at 9:30 p.m. just north of Priest River.
“I won’t drive on forested roads at night anymore,” he says.
David is a counselor at Coeur d’Alene’s Borah Elementary and drives to peaceful Priest Lake twice a month to work on water quality and to kayak.
The moose missed two cars in front of David. Luckily, one of those drivers saw David’s car suddenly veer off the highway into the woods. The driver knew there was no side road where David had turned and went after him.
He found David 30 feet into the forest. David was standing on his seat trying to get out of his crushed car.
He was covered with blood and moose hair. Somehow, his car had missed every tree and a ravine. The roof of the car had collapsed and lurched forward over the driver’s seat. David must have slumped with the impact and avoided decapitation.
Doctors at Spokane’s Deaconess Medical Center rebuilt his face with stainless steel and titanium. His nose was crushed. Most of his facial bones were broken. His head was torn open above his left eyebrow. But he had no internal injuries or brain damage and, remarkably, his eyes weren’t damaged.
“I thought about ‘Why am I still here?”’ he says, pulling away the dark glasses that hide stitches beneath his left eye. The stitches and a few piratelike scars are the only visible evidence of David’s accident. “But I don’t want to get too heavy and weird about it.”
David pouted like a child left behind when school started without him last month. But he’ll return to work soon after doctors free his jaw.
Ironically, he bought a Saab to replace the Rabbit just before the crash. It was delivered the day after the crash.
“I just didn’t think the Rabbit was sturdy enough,” he says. “Then, after all this, I found out that in Sweden Saabs are crash-tested with a moose dummy.”
Open mouth, insert floor
I asked for embarrassing moments and Hayden’s Cary Miller volunteered one that stung as well. She was a high school speech and English teacher in Corvallis, Mont., a few years ago when she agreed to ride a donkey in a basketball game to raise money for the student body.
Cary was no equestrian and asked for a gentle animal. But no sooner had she mounted the beast than it bucked her to the gym floor. She smacked her chin and punctured her bottom lip, was carted off the floor and needed four stitches.
“It was one of my better moves,” she says. “And in a small school like that (275 students), everyone knew what had happened.”
Longevity awards Priest River’s Mary Hill, Bea McKee and Lucille Brown found each other in first grade 65 years ago and never let separation end their friendship. They live in different towns but still see each other regularly.
Rose Lake’s Marjorie and Max Wadsworth nearly match Priest River’s record, but under tougher circumstances. The high school sweethearts celebrated 61 years of marriage Wednesday.
What has lasted you so long that the world should know what you’ve been through together? Your pickup truck? Your favorite pajamas? Boast about those relationships to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; send a fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo