A Saturday evening drive home from a church event turned into a fight for survival for two New York women when their Jeep struck a 2,300-pound water buffalo head-on at 52 miles an hour. Kristen Rozelle, 50, was driving Lindsey Baker, 27, home around 7 p.m. in the town of Stockholm when, according to an eyewitness, the animal ran across a field and jumped the guardrail into their path. The buffalo died in the crash.
Rozelle briefly lost consciousness, and the deployed airbags blocked the door handles as smoke filled the vehicle. Baker managed to climb out and flag down passing drivers, who helped until first responders arrived and took both women to the hospital. Their injuries were remarkably minor: sprains, bruises and cuts. Rozelle credits the Jeep itself, saying plainly that without it, she would be dead. She also says she has heard nothing from the animal’s owner, who lives near the crash site and spoke with a state trooper at the scene.
For those of us along the Suncoast, the story lands close to home. We already watch for deer on dark roads, gators near canals, and debris after storms. Escaped exotic livestock is a different kind of hazard, and it raises real questions about owner responsibility in rural communities. Rozelle’s message is clear, though: she wants people to see the Jeep and not the bull. “Our lives are worth something,” she said. Have you ever had a close call on a back road, or had a stranger stop to help when it mattered most?
