[nagdu] Fwd: [Seeingeye-l] Blind Man, Dog hit by Truck in Moorestown

[Buddy Brannan]

--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



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> Blind man, dog hit by truck in Moorestown | Philadelphia Inquirer |
> 10/07/2010
> 
> By Darran Simon 
> 
> Inquirer Staff Writer
> 
> Gordon Parks is a fixture in the Lenola section of Moorestown, where he
> lives. He walked his Seeing Eye dog, Wendy, several times daily and
> faithfully used the crosswalks, say those who know him. 
> 
> But sometime before 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, in a rare lapse, Parks and Wendy
> crossed in the middle of the block on Camden Avenue, not far from Lenola
> Road, said Moorestown Police Sgt. Randy Pugh. 
> 
> 
> The pair were struck by a 2005 Dodge pickup truck traveling east, Pugh said.
> Parks, 68, who was wearing an orange reflective vest, was thrown into the
> westbound lane. 
> 
> 
> He remained in critical condition at Cooper University Hospital last night,
> according to his family. 
> 
> 
> Wendy, the chocolate Lab who guided Parks for more than six years, was dead.
> 
> 
> 
> Parks' condition is "pretty grim," Madeline Parks, the victim's
> sister-in-law, said from the hospital. 
> 
> 
> Pugh never observed Parks, who lost his sight as a child, crossing outside
> of an intersection. "That's what's so baffling," the officer said. 
> 
> 
> In 2004, Burlington County officials approved a plan to install audible
> pedestrian signals on Lenola Road where it crosses New Albany Road and
> Camden Avenue, according to a news account that year. 
> 
> 
> No charges have been filed against driver Wayne T. Morris, 72, of
> Tabernacle, police said. Authorities continue to investigate the crash. 
> 
> 
> Parks' sight was poor even as a young boy, said his sister, Elaine Simmons
> of Westampton. When he was around 8, he was hit in the head with a swing and
> suffered hemorrhaging behind his eyes, Simmons said. Family members believe
> that may have led to his blindness. 
> 
> 
> But Parks adjusted, family members said. While attending the Overbrook
> School for the Blind, in Philadelphia, he was a lifeguard at the school
> pool, said Madeline Parks, who lives in Williamstown. 
> 
> 
> Parks attended college in Fargo, N.D., and studied to be a machinist. He
> worked various jobs, his family said, and remains an avid musician who plays
> clarinet and saxophone at nursing homes and churches. 
> 
> 
> Wendy was the second guide dog Parks owned, said his twin brother, Gervin.
> She was trained at the Seeing Eye, a guide-dog school in Morristown, Morris
> County. 
> 
> 
> "He loved that dog and that dog loved him," Gervin said. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Contact staff writer Darran Simon at 856-779-3829 or
> <mailto:dsimon at phillynews.com> dsimon at phillynews.com.