HASKELL COUNTY, Okla. (KFSM) – Ten people were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries Monday night (Dec. 8) after two cars collided with a pair of cows.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol and emergency medical crews responded at 10:53 p.m. to Oklahoma 9 between Stigler and Keota in reference to the wreck, in which an SUV caught fire after striking the cattle.
"We were pulling over and slowing down to help them but by the time we had time to do that we were already in the air and flipping," Staci Blackburn said.
Blackburn's daughter-in-law Leah McDonald, told 5NEWS she and her family were on their way home to Fort Smith from Stigler when they hit one of the cows and flipped twice through the air. McDonald said her grandparents were among those transported to the hospital, as they received head injuries and minor cuts on their arms. The rest of the family were taken to the hospital later to have their injuries examined.
"My headache hasn't gone away I have some rib pain," McDonald said. "My husbands got a sprained ankle."
The trooper working the crash said the two cows likely got loose and wandered into the roadway before being hit by the Focus and a sport utility vehicle. The cows died at the scene.
The four people in the SUV were transported to a hospital in Stigler, while the family in the Focus were hospitalized at Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. All were treated and released.
“As we sat in shock of what happened, we realized we are all lucky to be alive,” McDonald said.
State troopers are still investigating the incident and trying to determine how the cows got loose and who they belong to.
