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A Portland long haul truck driver is on the mend after a turkey went through his windshield, causing the truck to crash earlier this month, KTLA sister station KOIN reports.
Dave Duell, who normally commutes from Portland to Medford, Oregon, and back five days a week, was heading south, driving a semi-truck and triple trailer combo when a turkey came at him from a grassy median.
The bird struck through the truck’s windshield — shattering it and hitting Duell on the left side of his face, knocking him unconscious — and left through the window behind him.
Duell then veered off into a field, hit a small tree and was Life Flighted to the nearest hospital with severe head injuries, according to the Oregon State Police.
Truck driver David Duell is in the hospital after a turkey went through his windshield, causing the truck to crash near Grants Pass on Apr. 9, 2024. (Courtesy: Emily-Jean Duell) 
Truck driver David Duell is in the hospital after a turkey went through his windshield, causing the truck to crash near Grants Pass on Apr. 9, 2024. (Courtesy: Emily-Jean Duell) 
Truck driver David Duell is in the hospital after a turkey went through his windshield, causing the truck to crash near Grants Pass on Apr. 9, 2024. (Courtesy: Emily-Jean Duell) 
Truck driver David Duell is in the hospital after a turkey went through his windshield, causing the truck to crash near Grants Pass on Apr. 9, 2024. (Courtesy: Emily-Jean Duell)
His daughter, Emily-Jean Duell, told KOIN that when she visited her father in the hospital, they both used humor as a coping mechanism.
“So the first thing I said to him in the hospital room was something along the lines of, ‘So you took a turkey cannon to the face.’ Then he was laughing a lot,” she said.
According to Emily-Jean, her father has no memory of the incident. Thankfully, she adds, Dave is now on the mend.
“He’s doing really good. The swelling is, as far as I’m aware, down insanely. He’s able to talk clear and he has sight in his eye right now.”
Meanwhile, Dave’s coworker created a GoFundMe to raise money after the crash, with Emily-Jean saying it has the family’s blessing.
“We thought it was an amazing gesture, so we decided to embrace it,” she said. “Because he is going to take a pay cut while he is on worker’s compensation, because normally he gets paid by the mile. And now he’s at a flat rate for eight hours a day, five days a week and it’s definitely made a gap in paying his normal bills.”
Right now, Dave has been discharged from the hospital and is wearing an eyepatch ahead of surgery, which will happen sometime this week.
