Car-struck deer flies through windshield, out back of vehicle

MINNEAPOLIS -- A Minnesota family heading for pizza on the first day of hunting season bagged a deer instead, when a small buck struck by an oncoming car flew through their windshield and out their rear window.

Chris and Susan Blake and their 17-year-old daughter, Olivia, were injured but survived the frightening crash Saturday along the Blue Earth County highway, television station KARE-TV reported.

The deer struck Chris in the face and glanced off Sue before striking Olivia in the back seat. The animal's momentum sent it through the rear window.

"It came right through the windshield and actually t-boned me in the face," Chris Blake said.

He said the impact broke numerous bones in his face and that his daughter broke her nose and fractured her cheek. Susan Blake had scratches on her face and bruising.

The deer, not surprisingly, was killed. The investigating officer, Trooper Mark Fahning of the Minnesota State Patrol, said it's the first time he's ever seen a deer fly all the way through a car.

Olivia is hoping her broken nose, fractured cheek and swollen face mend fast and enough for her to play the lead in New Ulm High School's production of "Hello, Dolly" in two weeks.

"I hope to God, because we have no understudy and I don't want to let everyone down," the teenager said.

Saturday was the first day of Minnesota's deer-hunting season. Missouri's firearm deer-hunting season starts Saturday and ends Nov. 24.