CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — A deer went crashing through a windshield on Tuesday morning and now the driver is recovering after the deer landed next to him inside of the car.
It was something many of the volunteer firefighters and EMTs who rushed to the accident scene have never seen before, a deer lying in the front seat of the car after crashing through the windshield.
The driver, Raeford Parker, never saw it coming.
"I don't know what happened. First thing I know was that there was a deer in the car," said Parker.
Eyewitness News has blurred the image of the deer because it is too graphic.
According the North Carolina Department of Transportation, there were more than 19,500 animal-related crashes each of the last three years, and 90 percent of those involved deer.
Since 2009, 3,498 people were injured in those crashes and 17 people died.
This isn't the only accident involving deer along this stretch of Highway 127 south of Hickory.
Eyewitness News talked with one neighbor who had two family members strike a deer recently.
Since 2009, accidents involving animals have done $139 million of damage statewide.
Dustin Tallent was behind Parker's car and says Parker is lucky he wasn't hurt worse.
"I was like, wow. I thought the deer kept going. I didn't know it was actually in the car. Wow," said Tallent.
The deer died in the accident.