By Shayla Reaves
LOUISVILLE (WAVE) -- It's a story that is not only bizarre but has an incredible ending. Elizabethtown High School student Emily Buck was running a race when a deer slammed into her. The incident didn't stop the team or Emily from making it to the state cross country meet. WAVE 3's Shayla Reaves has the story.
It's a day Emily Buck wants to live down. That's because Buck, an Elizabethtown High School freshman, got hit by a deer during a weekend cross country meet in Marion County.
"Everything hurt," she said of the impact. "I just couldn't move or anything."
Buck weighs just 78 pounds.
"A lot of people are like oh you're so small," she said of reaction to the incident. "I was looking ahead to pass the girl and it just jumped out and hit me."
Teammate Deanna Maurer witnessed it all unfold and stopped to help.
"Yeah, It's a team, I'm not just going to leave her when she's hurt so I went and helped her out," said Maurer of the incident. "I've never seen a deer that close to me before, so it was really scary."
Assistant Coach Tony Kuklinski is used to seeing injuries, but admits he's never experienced this kind before.
"I don't think in the history of this state there's ever been a deer assault," Kuklinski said of the cross country race incident. "I can coach them and I can teach them everything they need to do with running, but I can't coach them on what to do when a deer jumps out at you."
Teammate Taylor Kuklinski remembers it all. The incident happened during their State qualifying race Saturday.
"We knew that our player was out and we needed to work hard so we could get to state and that's what we're here for," said Taylor of the state qualifying race."It's what we've worked for."
The team managed to pull off a second place finish and qualify for State competition in Lexington. Though Emily wasn't able to finish last week's race, she is still qualified to compete in the State race. The freshman runner says she's run the course before and is not worried about any deer getting in her way.
Online Reporter: Shayla Reaves
Online Producer: Charles Gazaway
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