Monday, December 29, 2008

Loose trailer strikes pickup towing animals.

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Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)
November 7, 2008



Accident kills horse, injures woman Loose trailer strikes pickup towing animals.
Author: JOE MEYERof the Tribune's staff
Article Text:A Rocheport woman is recovering from a weekend wreck that killed a horse on Highway 40 after a utility trailer detached from another vehicle and struck the pickup she was driving on her way to a horse show.

The wreck occurred Saturday morning as Lisa Morrissey, 36, was towing a horse trailer behind a Ford pickup. The trailer overturned, and authorities euthanized one of the horses, a thoroughbred hunter-jumper.

Another horse suffered injuries to a leg but survived the collision. Morrissey remains hospitalized at University Hospital and was listed in good condition today. Family and friends said she is recovering from a shattered femur, broken pelvis and broken collarbone. Morrissey's niece, 14-year-old Jordan Husa, and her friend, 13-year-old Alexis Tolch, were treated and released from the hospital.

"We're very thankful to have my wife alive," Bill Morrissey said by phone today from his wife's hospital room. "She didn't do anything wrong. They were just driving down the road." According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Morrissey was driving eastbound on Highway 40 just west of Route J at 8:50 a.m. when her pickup was struck by a utility trailer that had became detached from a westbound 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe.

The collision totaled Morrissey's truck and forced the horse trailer to jackknife and overturn, the highway patrol said. "Had it been a smaller car, it probably would have been a serious fatality accident," highway patrol Cpl. Paul Meyers said today.

The trailer being pulled by the SUV was described by family and friends as homemade, but Meyers said it was a professionally-manufactured agricultural brush burner. "It was an odd-looking contraption," Meyers said.

The driver of the Chevrolet, identified as Joseph Schuster, 45, of Columbia, was issued a citation for not properly securing a load, Meyers said. He was not injured, the highway patrol said. Terri Wright of Columbia, a family friend, said Morrissey noticed the trailer swaying from side to side and pulled over to let it pass. "It was very heavy," Wright said of the trailer, "must have hit her like a freight train, basically.

" Wright said one of the horses, a 15-year-old thoroughbred named Payton, was euthanized on the scene by a veterinarian from Equine Medical Services in Columbia. "He used to be my horse, so it hits really close to home," Wright said, adding that Husa rode the horse, which she estimated to be worth $10,000. Another horse, a Trekhaner named Bree, survived the wreck but required multiple stitches to a leg, Bill Morrissey said. Jill Morrissey has undergone multiple surgeries and faces months of rehabilitation. "We don't know precisely what that will entail," Bill Morrissey said. Reach Joe Meyer at (573) 815-1718 or jmeyer@columbiatribune.com.
Copyright 2008 Columbia Daily Tribune
Record Number: 12453075DA7550C0

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