SILER CITY — Siler City’s radio personality Barry Hayes and his wife Dacia survived a hit-and-run on July 4, learning their own resilience and the determination of their cherished pet cat, Chloe.
The three had been traveling in Brunswick County the evening of the holiday. Hayes notes that traffic was light, likely because many revelers had reached their destinations. Suddenly, a vehicle rammed their vehicle from behind, striking it twice before speeding away.
“US-17 in southern Brunswick County was clear and wide-open — when our back-window was suddenly flooded with bright light, followed in a microsecond by two deafening and jolting ‘bangs’ as our vehicle was sent out of control and rolling or flipping and off the road,” Hayes said.
Hayes, who owns and operates WNCA, an AM station, said the investigation by the North Carolina Highway Patrol, which is still ongoing, estimated the driver was traveling in excess of 75 miles per hour.
“It was a ‘hit and run’ — no skid-marks at point of impact — and the driver has not been identified or located,” Hayes said.
Hayes and his wife were transported and hospitalized at the Grand Strand Medical Center in Myrtle Beach for cracked ribs, cuts and bruises. After several days, they were released and returned home and are receiving “fabulous outpatient care, from our beloved UNC /Chatham Hospital.”
Unfortunately, their beloved cat, Chloe went missing during the accident, according to Hayes. Everyone assumed the cat had been ejected during the accident or may have succumbed to fatal injuries. But Chloe appeared a couple of days later, 20 miles away from the scene of the accident. She was found hiding under the seat of the “demolished vehicle” in the tow-yard where it had been taken after the accident. Chloe is now back at home with the Hayes and recovering herself. Hayes notes she is still a bit dazed by the ordeal and “is slowly recovering from the trauma, as are we.”
“There are stories on-top of stories within this nightmare,” Hayes said. “But the bottom-line and most important ‘take-away’ is that the ‘Mighty Hand of God’ was all over this — from beginning to the present — and ‘we’ would have been ‘but a memory’ had ‘HE’ not intervened (in multiple ways).”
Reporter Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.