Happily ever after despite wedding ‘crasher’
Once upon a time, in a parking lot not-so-far away, a weekend wedding celebration went sour when an unusual accident left one man needing medical assistance and others in need of a good mechanic.
Once upon a time, in a parking lot not-so-far away, a weekend wedding celebration went sour when an unusual accident left one man needing medical assistance and others in need of a good mechanic.
Today marks the one-week anniversary of an event that occurred in Dickinson, which may not be every bride’s dream.
“You could say we went out with a boom,” Dickinson resident and newlywed Karla Haugen said.
Just a day after Karla (Hanson) and Chris Haugen were wed, an accident occurred in the hotel parking lot where the couple and their wedding guests were staying.
“As Chris and I were walking back to the hotel from taking the tuxes out of his mother’s car, I saw my personal attended, Ashley Metcalf, running,” Karla said. “As soon as I saw her I thought, ‘what is she doing?’ And then I heard a loud boom!”
Personal attendant Megan Dittemore was in the entryway of the hotel at the time.
“The noise was so loud I felt the hotel shake,” she said.
The boom was the sound of a vehicle slamming into five parked cars at the Holiday Inn Express in Dickinson, two of which belonged to those in the wedding party.
All of the vehicles except the driver’s were unoccupied and parked at the time.
“Chris and I went rushing over and I saw my cousin, who is an RN, running barefoot over the glass to try and help the driver who was apparently having a seizure,” Karla said, adding her cousin assisted other paramedics or emergency responders.
Dickinson police reports confirm David Hynes, 49 of Alberta, Canada had a seizure and struck three vehicles, one of which crashed into a fourth vehicle, which crashed into a fifth vehicle.
“The accident was quite a shock to all of us,” Karla said. “I felt bad for the two, and the other car owners, it was the last thing we wanted for them, I just hope the man is OK.”
After the man was transported to the hospital the wedding guests and others took a look at the vehicles and began cleaning up, Karla said.
“There was just glass everywhere,” Karla said.
Among the wreck, heads of golf clubs that were in a truck broke off and plastic containers shattered.
“The impact had to be so forceful,” Dittemore said.
Dave Danielson was a groomsman and owner of a truck involved in the crash.
Dittemore added no one knew where Danielson and his family were, at first the fear was the family was in the pickup.
“It was a classic case of wrong time wrong place,” Dittemore said. “If the driver had swerved left instead of right he would have ran into the hotel entrance, and things could have really gone worse — people could have been killed.”
Once the area was cleaned up the couple and their guests hung out before driving to the Haugens’ home to open gifts.
“The man was in all of our thoughts and prayers,” Karla said. “I’m just grateful no one was hurt, it could have been a lot worse, we could have all been saying our goodbyes.”
The couple left for Fargo Friday to visit friends and relatives and will be leaving for their honeymoon Sunday.
Karla doesn’t know where the couple is headed but is ecstatic.
“Chris planned the whole thing,” Karla Haugen said. “I guess I picked a romantic.”
Chris refuses to spill the beans as to the location.
Wherever their destination, may the trip end in jubilation.
And may the couple be filled with love and laughter and live happily ever after.
Holiday Inn Express declined comment. Contact information for David Hynes could not be found, nor was his condition available.
Tags: news, wedding, accident, cake
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