I pulled this from the HSTA list this morning!
Kevin Hawkins // Greensboro, NC
AMA #609423 // [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.geocities.com/~raddboy
Y2K Kawasaki ZRX1100 // '93 Yamaha GTS1000
>From "Air Force Times":
Lying atop the moose calf he had just hit with his motorcycle, Senior Airman
Thomas Leaman couldn't believe he was alive.
" As I was sliding into that calf, I was thinking 'I'm going to die,'"
Leaman said, estimating that he was going at least 50 mph when he hit the
200-pound calf Sept.1st on Alaska's Richardson Highway.
But Leaman's nightmare was just beginning. It was the middle of the night
and Leaman was lying in the middle of the road with his crumpled motorcycle
still running and the crippled calf bawling.
"It let out this god-awful scream and moan," said Leaman, 29, of Eielson Air
Force Base. "It sent chills up your back."
So did the next sound Leaman heard.
"Clop,clop,clop,clop." The calf's very angry mother was
coming after
him.
"I was actually able to get up and run away from the mother," Leaman said.
But he didn't escape her. He was standing on the shoulder of the southbound
passing lane frantically trying to flag down a passing vehicle when the
1000-pound cow moose, which had chased him across the highway divide, hit
him from behind with everything she had.
The impact sent him flying across both lanes of the highway. Not stopping
there, the cow proceeded to mule-kick Leaman. One hoof hit the face shield
of his helmet and one glanced off his shoulder into his throat. The
two-legged blow sent him flying another 10 or 15 feet, he said.
The moose then crossed the highway again, returning to her dying calf.
Leaman was taken to Bassett Army Community Hospital on Fort Wainwright,
where he was treated and released. His only injuries were some torn
ligaments in his left thumb, a bruised left hip where he hit the road, and a
fat lip from the kick to his helmet.
TSgt Mike Stenger
311th Airlift Flight
Quality Assurance Representative
Offutt AFB, NE DSN 271-6223
