What moose? Woman can't recall dramatic collision

A central Newfoundland woman, who drove about 40 kilometres with her windshield smashed out and her car's roof peeled back like an opened can, says she didn't know she'd hit a moose until she arrived at work in Gander on Monday.

"I can remember pulling into the driveway and my co-workers came out and asked me if I was okay and I said 'Why?' and they said 'Well Michelle you're bleeding and look at your car. I looked at my car and I was devastated,"Michelle Higginstold CBC Friday.

"The roof was like a sardine can. I thought, 'this is impossible'."

Cindy Paulson is one of the co-workers whosaw Higgins when she arrived at work.

"I said 'My god Michelle. What happened?' And she looked at me and said 'Nothing, what are you talking about?' I said, 'Michelle you were in an accident.' She said 'No, I was not in an accident.' "

Paulson was able to convince Higgins that she needed some medical attention.

"When we went to the hospital, the doctor was asking her questions, just questioning her memory. Like what's your name, your date of birth, where do you live? She knew everything like that. The accident was the only thing gone. Lost," she said."Whoo. I tell you, I don't know. It's a miracle."

Higgins, of Norris Arm,said she received head and neckinjuries during the collision. Her face is badly bruised and twobonesin her neck were fractured. Higginssaid her family is still finding bits of glass from her windshield around their home.

"I know my head did take a good impact and my forehead has a scuff mark that we are thinking may have been caused by the moose's hoof," she said.

But on Friday Higgins said she still doesn't remember hitting the massive animal after visiting the site where the dead moose was found.

"For me not to have control over what is happening is unreal and it's driving me crazy," she said.

It's all very jarring for Higgins who takes pride in being organized.

"I can tell you how many paydays until Christmas," she said.

"Idon't really want to remember hitting the moose but from the time I hit it to the time I arrived in at my destination, I had to drive through Glenwood, and I had to go through Gander, pass the hospital and then make two lefts and a right. The girls said I arrived at work on time. So how did I get there?"

Higgins is appealing to anyone who saw herdriving herbadly damaged car on the Trans-Canada Highwayto get in touch with her.

"Nobody reported seeing this lunatic on the road driving like this. I would like to have that part of my memory back," she said. "I'd like to know if I was driving safely."