Defying the odds, a car flew off a roadway and smashed into the roof of a military veterans hall in Missouri — the second such incident in just three months.
The Clay-Ray Veterans Memorial Hall in Excelsior Springs was still repairing its roof from the previous crash in February when a driver suffering a medical emergency went airborne and landed on the same part of the building’s roof Wednesday morning.
“Though it might seem like a recurring issue, these are very unique situations,” assured Lt. Ryan Dowdy of the Excelsior Springs Police Department, according to ABC News.
The 56-year-old driver, who was delivering food for a volunteer organization, had suffered a seizure and lost control of his car, according to the Excelsior Citizen.
The silver vehicle landed front-first into the roof around 7:30 a.m. and went about half-way through, photos show. The crash was violent enough that the car’s engine ejected and landed near a flagpole, ABC reported.
Miraculously, the driver suffered only minor injuries and was able to walk away from the scene. No charges will be filed, according to police.
In the 80 years that the VFW has had that property, this is only the second time this has happened, a rep for the veteran organization said, according to Dowdy.
The absurd probability of having such a dramatic incident twice in such a short amount of time has not been lost on the community.
“Here we go again! Round #2!” The Clay-Ray Veterans Association, which operates the hall for multiple organizations, posted on Facebook after the crash
The group has even started selling cheeky T-shirts to raise money for repairs.
“Land here for a cold beer,” they read on the back with a graphic of a car sticking out of a roof.
One community member commenting on the crash online jokingly suggested they put a “No parking sign” on top of the building.
Another man even suggested rebuilding the roof “with a ramp thing that redirects cars back onto the road. Like a loop-de-loop.”
The previous crash involved a police chase involving a 22-year-old registered sex offender with two teenage girls in his car, according to the Excelsior Citizen.
The two teenage passengers suffered serious injuries, while the driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
That crash caused significant structural damage after it went completely through the roof, forcing the building to shut down.
Repairs on those damages had just started when the second car hit.
The veterans hall held an emergency meeting on Wednesday night to discuss repairs and address the traffic situation that may have led to the crashes, according to the Excelsior Citizen.
The building remains closed to the public.
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