Woman dies when she gets out of car to check on injured opossum, FL cops say
.jpeg "Opossums are cat-sized marsupials known to “play dead” when threatened, the Florida fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says. This is not the opossum involved in the fatal crash.")
An injured opossum inadvertently got a woman killed when she risked walking into traffic at night to offer it help, Florida investigators say.
The collision happened shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, at a rural intersection in the Brooksville area of Hernando County, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release.
“A Toyota Camry, driven by a 31-year-old Spring Hill man, ... stopped to check on an injured opossum,” investigators said.
“A 27-year-old Spring Hill woman and wife of the driver, exited the vehicle to attend to the opossum.”
It was then that a Chrysler 300 drove by, striking the woman, officials said. She died after being taken to a hospital.
The woman’s identity and the nature of her injuries were not been released.
Investigators say the Chrysler 300 was driven by a 19-year-old man from Weeki Wachee, and the highway patrol did not report he facesany charges.
Maps show the location of the crash is sparely populated and the two-lane road has no street lighting.
Brooksville is about a 50-mile drive north from Tampa.
Opossums are cat-sized marsupials known to “play dead” when threatened, the Florida fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says. The act also includes emitting a foul smell.
This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 7:29 AM with the headline "Woman dies when she gets out of car to check on injured opossum, FL cops say."