WATERVILLE — Bloody, bruised and covered with glass, Cathy Shepherd looked around for help. Her 2004 Hyundai XG350 had just slammed into a moose, killing it.
At first, no other cars were in sight Sunday night in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95. Then, headlights pierced the darkness behind her.
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A car stopped and two men, a father and son, got out to help. Shepherd got out of her car.
That’s when, she said, “all hell broke loose.”
The dead moose, still on top of Shepherd’s crushed car, was sticking out into the road, and a car that came up from behind clipped it and veered off the road.
Then, the driver of a sport utility vehicle slammed on the brakes and spun in circles toward Shepherd. Behind the SUV, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer began to jackknife.
The men threw Shepherd over the guardrail and down into a shallow gully. The son jumped after her as the spinning SUV passed where they had been standing.
The father, after taking shelter off the road, called 911.
That sequence of events, described by Shepherd in an interview Wednesday, happened Sunday night near Exit 127 in Waterville. She was taken to Inland Hospital in Waterville, where she was treated and released that night.
Shepherd said she’s convinced that the father and son “saved my life,” by stopping to help her and by tossing her out of harm’s way — and she doesn’t even know who they are.
The son identified himself only as Kendall. Their vehicle had Maine plates and they said they were “on their way back from the races,” she said.
“I got saved twice that night and I have these two gentlemen to thank; they’re my heroes,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd, 32, who lives in Manchester, was on her way home after visiting a friend in Waterville.
State police Trooper Sean Kinney, who investigated the crash, said Shepherd had no time to react when the moose crossed the guardrail and onto the interstate.
Shepherd said she had her cruise control set at the speed limit when she hit the moose, which was like “coming to a stop against a brick wall.”
Kinney said Shepherd was fortunate to suffer only minor injuries.
On impact, the moose toppled through the car’s windshield and hit Shepherd in the forehead. She had cuts, bruises and pieces of windshield glass embedded in her skin.
The anonymous father and son were her guardian angels. Kendall, she said, stayed with her the entire time, held her hand, helped her focus on breathing and got her a bottle of water.
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