[nagdu] Blind man dies of injuries

[Ginger Kutsch]

Blind man dies of injuries
By JIM WALSH . Courier-Post Staff . October 8, 2010 
 
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20101008/NEWS01/10080333
/Blind-man-dies-of-injuries
 
MOORESTOWN - A blind man who walked with his guide dog into the
path of a pickup truck here has died from his injuries.
 
 
 

Gordon Parks, 68, of Moorestown, died Thursday at Cooper
University Hospital, Camden, a hospital representative said.
Parks was hit and critically injured around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday
while crossing heavily traveled East Camden Avenue in the middle
of a block.
His guide dog, a chocolate Labrador retriever named Wendy, died
at the accident scene.
Parks and his dog were familiar figures in Moorestown,
particularly in his Lenola neighborhood.
"You'd see him walking all the time," said Bonita Fegley, a
former Moorestown resident who now lives in neighboring Maple
Shade. "He always had the guide dog and he always wore a
(reflective) vest."
Police on Wednesday expressed surprise at the accident, saying
Parks and his dog regularly used a crosswalk at Camden Avenue and
Lenola Road, about three-tenths of a mile distant.
But on Thursday, a man who works near the accident scene said
Parks and his dog sometimes crossed there alone. The accident
occurred on a relatively wide stretch of highway -- with two
travel lanes and nine-foot shoulders -- between Mount Carmel
Cemetery on one side and Kapanzhi Auto Repair on the other.
"He'd call for us and we'd help him across the street," said the
man, a Kapanzhi worker who declined to give his name. The man
said that traffic sometimes would stop voluntarily and Parks and
his dog would cross themselves.
"He'd have his hand up in the air," the worker recalled.
Parks' family members could not be reached Thursday night.
Parks, who suffered head and leg injuries, was thrown into the
westbound lane by the collision's impact. On Thursday, vehicles
sped over spray-painted markings on the road that showed where
items of Parks' clothing had landed.
Police on Wednesday said no charges had been filed against the
pickup truck's driver, 72-year-old Wayne T. Morris of Tabernacle.
The accident remained under investigation, police said Wednesday.
Additional information was not available from police Thursday
night.
In May 2004, Parks was the subject of a Courier-Post article
noting his success in winning approval for audible crosswalk
signals at the intersection of Camden and Lenola.
The signals, the first of their kind in Burlington County, also
were to be installed at Lenola and New Albany roads.
Both sites were chosen specifically because of Parks and his
walking route, officials said at that time.
The signals would be programmed to say the name of the road to be
crossed. An electronic voice then would count down the number of
seconds before the next signal change.
Parks at that time said he would welcome the technological
advance.
"My concern is, how much time does it take to cross the road," he
said in the 2004 interview. "I need time. Time is very important
because it is a matter of life and death."
Reach Jim Walsh at (856) 486-2646 or jwalsh at courierpostonline.com