An Oklahoma man who had recently marked two major milestones — his 40th wedding anniversary and retirement — was killed in a rare crash involving 10 feral hogs.
Roger Gregory Cummings, 63, was driving late Wednesday night in Stephens County, roughly 90 miles south of Oklahoma City, when his vehicle struck a group of feral pigs, according to the Daily Mail.
After the collision, Cummings veered off the road into a ditch and hit a fence, the outlet reported, citing a collision report.
As he tried to maneuver the car out of the situation, the vehicle kept moving along the fence line.
Cummings was ejected from the vehicle before it rolled onto its side, came to a stop and pinned him underneath.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Cummings was not wearing a seatbelt. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
His death came shortly after he celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary with his wife, Soyna, and retired in June from Marlow Lumber Company, where he had worked for more than four decades, according to an online obituary.
Barbara Johnson, owner of Marlow Lumber Company, remembered Cummings as “part of our family here.”
“We are all shocked and saddened by the news and our thoughts are with his wife and son,” Johnson told the Mail.
Johnson said she saw an ambulance drive to the scene of the horrific crash around 9:30 a.m. Thursday and speculated that it was likely no one had seen the wreck until much later as it was dark and out of view.
She said it’s common for locals who reside beyond the city limits to encounter wildlife but stressed tragedies like Cummings’ accident are rare.
“People hit wildlife all the time, but we don’t get fatalities often,” Johnson told the publication.
Feral swine are increasingly become an issue in the Sooner State and have been detected in 70 of the state’s 77 counties, according to the Oklahoma Wildlife Department.
Wild hogs — which congregate in large groups called “sounders” — are most commonly found in southern Oklahoma and are the most active at night.
