In the wee hours of the morning, on a rainy November 3rd in 1968, Harry Caray nearly lost his life after being struck by a car in front of the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis. The Hall of Fame broadcaster had returned from Columbia where he had called a Mizzou game the evening before, watched some Blues hockey, had dinner, then made a fateful decision to continue his night by going to the hotel to have a few drinks.Caray parked across the street from the hotel, and when he began to cross a 21-year-old man from Overland name Michael Poliquin was headed right for him. Poliquin did not see him until it was too late, and despite his efforts to stop he skidded into the Cardinals broadcaster. It was said that Caray flew 40 feet in one direction, and his shoes flew 25 feet in the other direction. Caray suffered a variety of injuries, which included compound fractures on both of his legs. As he lay there in the street he thought he was going to die.
The man who had narrowly escaped death was listed in critical condition the following day. However, he upgraded quickly, and began a road to recovery. Within weeks he was smiling, and looking forward to getting back to work. The article on the left was printed the day after, while the photo on the right published five weeks later. There was no keeping Caray down.
Mark over at RetroSimba.com went into much greater detail. He even talks about how Caray turned his hospital room into party central. Check it out here: http://retrosimba.com/2013/11/04/how-harry-caray-survived-near-fatal-car-accident/
One other note, I noticed Caray was ticketed for crossing in mid block. Some unsympathetic cops I guess. I mean for Pete Kozma's sake if you break both of your legs there should be a pass given for jaywalking.
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