[nagdu] Blind woman and her service dog continue to recover from hit-and-run in St. Ann

[Ginger Kutsch]

Blind woman and her service dog continue to recover from hit-and-run in St.
Ann

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/blind-woman-and-her-serv
ice-dog-continue-to-recover-from/article_51d7abfe-1841-55e2-91d5-37a3cd10940
1.html

 

ST. ANN . It's been nearly a week since a black SUV careened over a curb and
struck Stephanie McDowell and her guide dog, Ledger, as they waited on the
sidewalk to cross the street.

 

The vehicle didn't stop. And neither police nor McDowell know who hit her
and her dog.

 

"You would like to think the best of people," said McDowell, 45. "I assume
they were texting or drunk. I have no clue."

 

Police are still hoping to find the hit-and-run driver through a
surveillance video and the public's help.

 

Meanwhile, McDowell, 45, who lives on Wright Avenue in St. Ann, and her
1-year-old black Labrador retriever must work to recover from the accident.
McDowell suffered a fractured pelvic bone and must now walk with the help of
a walker. Ledger, who has been with McDowell for three months, was left
bruised from the accident, but worse, the trauma may leave him unable to be
a service dog anymore.

 

 

 

"I'm extremely blessed to be as healthy as I am," said McDowell, who works
for a disability advocacy agency. "I'm just glad I'm here."

 

The incident happened about 8 p.m. Tuesday on St. Gregory Street near its
intersection with St. Charles Rock Road as McDowell and Ledger walked back
from a QuikTrip convenience store as they had done many times before. The
SUV left the road after turning onto St. Gregory, police said.

 

Police retrieved a surveillance video of the hit-and-run from traffic
cameras and area businesses and are working to identify the driver.

 

"I wasn't in the middle of the street," McDowell said Sunday as she sat at
home. "I was on the side of St. Gregory where the sidewalk ends when I heard
the car."

 

McDowell, who has been legally blind since the age of 14, said she normally
hears the sound of a vehicle slowing down or braking but this time she
didn't.

 

"I had this feeling that I was going to get hit," she said.

 

She was left injured on the ground after impact. Two neighbors came outside
to help her and call 911. "It knocked me clear into the mud of a grassy
lot," she said. She was taken to a hospital, where she was treated and
released.

 

Ledger ran off after the accident. He was later found by a relative and
brought home.

 

"He is new and he is young," said McDowell as he sat on the floor in front
of her in her living room as McDowell worked to put on her gray-and-pink
athletic shoes before heading to an Easter gathering. "He was hurt. His job
is to keep me safe from running into things."

 

Although Ledger is fine physically, McDowell is concerned about an
evaluation of her dog scheduled for May 5 from the agency that placed him
with her. Agency officials will decide if he remains in her home.

 

"They are going to determine if he is safe to work," she said. "They will
determine if he's afraid to be in a harness any more or if he's afraid to go
where traffic is. If he is, he won't be able to work."

 

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at the St. Ann Police
Department, 314-428-6868.

 

 

Denise Hollinshed is a crime reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch