Maple Lake Couple Recovers After Hitting 900-Lb Moose
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Maple Lake, Minnesota couple is recovering after colliding with a moose earlier this week.
Monday evening, Donald and Terry O'Connor were coming back from Buffalo along Highway 55. As they passed by the beach access to Maple Lake they crashed head on with a 900 pound bull moose.
Don and Terry O'Connor can't hide the injuries of their recent car crash.
They have concussions, cuts and bruising from a head-on collision.
"I have 25 stiches in my forehead. I guess the impact went right to my skull," Don O'Connor, who crashed into a moose, said.
"I'm still mending," Terry O'Connor, Don's wife, said.
The cause of their accident is quite the story.
"Unbelievable, isn't it? A moose," Terry said.
Don and Terry collided with a moose.
An animal normally found in the north woods had somehow wandered far from home and right across Highway 55 in Maple Lake.
"I was in disbelief that there was a moose down in this area," Don said.
Don was driving at night at the posted speed of 55 miles per hour. By the time he saw the animal, there was no time to react.
"It was like a great big brown mass coming at us. We didn't know what was hitting us," Terry said.
The couple now have pictures to show where the 900 pounds of flesh and fur came down on top of the windshield.
The bull moose rolled over the roof taking the convertible top with it.
"A sports car like that rides low," Terry said. "They said if we were in a regular vehicle, we would have been killed because it would have gone into our laps."
Instead, the animal barely touched the couple. All of their injuries were caused by the bent metal and broken glass
"I even had some moose hair in my hair. That's how close he came to me," Don said.
"I'm feeling grateful. I'm feeling thankful. We were being watched over that night," Terry said.
The moose was taken to the DNR for testing.
But Don and Terry have asked to have the antlers.
The couple says they are always on the lookout for deer while driving. They just never expected to see a moose.