Musher focusing on dog health after team is hit by a truck – KTNA 88.9 FM – KTNA

On Wednesday, musher Jaye Foucher was on a practice run with her team when the dogs were hit by a truck near Mile 75 of the Parks Highway in Willow.
It’s one of a musher’s worst nightmares. A little after 2:00 pm Wednesday afternoon, Jaye Foucher took her team out for a run.  In that area of Willow, one of the major trails runs adjacent to the Parks Highway, and it’s not unusual to see a dog team when driving by.  Foucher says in one area where the trail had not been broken since the last snow, her lead dogs turned onto the highway, seeing it as an easier path.
“I’m not sure which made the decision that the road looked like an easier option than the unbroken trail, and they just jumped the snow bank and landed in the road.”
Foucher says she tried calling the dogs back onto the trail, then got ready to deploy a snow hook and move them physically back on track, but by then, an approaching truck was too close.
Foucher says the truck’s driver may not have seen the team or her waving, as the truck did not slow down before it reached the dogs.  It did stop after striking the team just behind the leaders.
A passerby saw what had happened and came to Foucher’s aid.  She says in the chaos of the moment, she didn’t ask his name, but wants him to know he’s appreciated.
“Whoever the Good Samaritan was that stopped to help me, I want to say ‘Thank you so much,’ to whoever that was.  I didn’t get his name.”
Foucher says the driver’s identity is also not known, as he left the scene before Alaska State Troopers arrived. 
One member of the team, Noddy, died at the scene of the accident, and another, Felicity, was missing as of Thursday afternoon.  Seven dogs were seen by a vet clinic and later released, but two who sustained more serious injuries were still in the hospital as of Thursday. One of those dogs, Flint, had already undergone surgery for severe leg injuries.
“His front legs were seriously lacerated, down to the bone, so he’s in two splints.  And he had to have his tail amputated, because it was pretty much shattered, and they couldn’t save it.”
The other seriously injured dog, Kona, has a broken pelvis, according to Foucher, and it’s not clear what his recovery will require.
Amidst, the tragedy, Foucher says there has been a large outpouring of support from the Willow community, with people looking for the missing dog on snowmachines as long as light allowed on Wednesday and again on Thursday. 
One of those volunteers on Wednesday was Karin Hendrickson, a fellow musher who was also hit by a vehicle while on a training run near the Parks Highway in 2014. Despite suffering severe injuries, herself, Hendrickson says she was most grateful that her dogs were unharmed in that incident.
“That was the saving grace for me. I know Jaye’s really struggling right now.  Of course most people know that our dogs are our family and our teammates…and there’s so much emotion wrapped up in them.  It’s awful.”
Foucher says, in addition to locals, people from Outside have also been finding ways to help out, including feeding the staff at Tier 1 Veterinary Medical Center.
Somebody actually sent the entire vet clinic coffee and donuts this morning as a ‘thank you’ for all their help yesterday and today.  And the outpouring of financial support to help us recover and pay for the vet bills—I obviously wanted my entire team checked over last night.”
Foucher is registered for the Willow 300 race next week as well as the 2022 Iditarod.  Right now, she says the main concern is seeing to the health of the team, including finding Felcity and getting her to a vet.
A GoFundMe was set up in Foucher’s name on Thursday morning.  Within a few hours, it had raised nearly $17,000.
Foucher describes Felicity, the dog missing as of Thursday afternoon, as petite, weighing about thirty-five pounds.  Her coloring is mostly cream with a gray stripe down her spine.  Felicity may still be wearing her purple harness.  Foucher says community members are helping with live-traps to try to bring Felicity home, and that she has been seen more than once since the accident. If approached, Felicity is likely to run, and Foucher says the hope is that she will wander into someone’s home or dog yard where she can be retrieved and seen by a veterinarian.
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LouAnne Carroll Tysdal
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