ALBANY TOWNSHIP — A tourist from Virginia was injured early Wednesday afternoon on Route 5 when the 2001 Harley Davidson she was riding on collided with a deer, Maine State Police Trooper Brian Hink said late Friday afternoon.

Linda Weingarten, 61, possibly suffered a leg fracture, but her husband, Robert Weingarten, 52, was able to control their motorcycle and keep it upright, Hink said.

He said they were “very lucky” they weren’t seriously injured or killed in the collision and that Robert was able to control the bike and keep it stable.

Bethel Rescue took Linda Weingarten to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway.

Hink said the accident happened at about 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday about 3½ miles from the intersection with Route 118. He said the Weingartens were on vacation in Maine and travelling with a couple of friends who were riding on another motorcycle and “saw the whole thing happen.”

“A deer ran out in front of (the Weingartens) and the head of the deer hit the center of the bike,” he said. “The doe died instantly. They were hauling one of those little trailers and I believe that helped keep them stable. But the deer’s body came around and hit the lady in the leg. She had what felt like a fracture, but I don’t know if her leg was broken.”

Hink said a Maine game warden arrived to assist him and believed that the doe was nursing a fawn. So they fanned out around the scene looking for a fawn, but didn’t find one.

The only damage to the motorcycle was a broken headlight. “They got really lucky,” Hink said.

tkarkos@sunmediagroup.net

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