Uptown Crash Sends Motorcyclist To Hospital

BY CARLEIGH TURNER
Miami University journalism student

Eaton resident Ann Fluegeman Brock is recovering after she lost a leg in a recent accident Uptown, her husband Frank Brock said.

Brock, a firefighter and an Emergency Medical Technician for the Monroe Fire Department, was driving her Honda motorcycle north on North College Avenue on Oct. 29, when she was hit by a car driven by a Miami University student. There were five passengers in that car, as well.

Brock, 51, was thrown from her motorcycle. She was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where she remains.

When Oxford Police Department officers arrived, they found Brock’s left leg had been severed and her husband was applying a tourniquet to her leg, Police Chief John Jones said. Police spent more than six hours investigating the accident, arriving at 3:15 p.m.

According to the Facebook page for the Monroe Firefighters Union Local 3824, Brock is a 20-plus year veteran. She is also a registered nurse.

An initial post -- which attracted 450 comments of condolence and 615 "likes" -- reported that surgeons were unable to reattach her leg. A later post indicated she had a second surgery on Nov. 1 that went well. "She continues to be in high spirits despite the circumstances," the page said.

Brock's motorcycle was hit by a car driven by Miami junior Kasey O’Brien. O'Brien was driving east on Withrow Street in a Toyota Rav4 and stopped at a stop sign at College Avenue.

"She thought the intersection was clear and proceeded to travel across College Avenue striking (Brock's motorcycle)," the traffic crash report said.

Brock told investigators she saw the Rav4 at the stop sign as she traveled north, unaware that it was about to travel through the intersection. There is no stop sign for College Avenue drivers at Withrow Street.

The traffic report indicated that neither speed, alcohol or drugs were factors in the accident.

But O’Brien and her passengers received tickets for multiple violations inside the vehicle.

O’Brien, a 20-year-old from Dublin, Ohio, majoring in finance, was ticketed for failing to yield and for driving with a load or persons obstructing her view.

Reached by phone, she declined to comment on Thursday.

O'Brien was driving with five passengers, two of whom share her Oxford address in the 100 block of North College Avenue. They were also ticketed and, like O'Brien, summoned to appear in the Butler County Area I Court in Oxford at 10 a.m. on Nov. 17.

• Shelby Henderson, 21, was cited for having an open container of Hamm's Special Light Beer in the car and for failing to wear a seat belt. She is a junior marketing major from Medina, Ohio, and one of O'Brien's roommates.
• Kelly Gallagher, 20, was cited for not wearing a seatbelt. She is a junior strategic communications major from Cincinnati. She also lives with O'Brien.
• Twenty-one-year-old twins Marie and Molly Meadows, from Medina, Ohio, were both cited for obstructing the driver's view and failing to wear a seat belt. Marie Meadows is a junior marketing major and Molly Meadows majors in finance.
• Evan Gallagher, 24, was also cited for not wearing a seatbelt. He shares a permanent address with Kelly Gallagher and listed a different Cincinnati address as his current residence.

Photo: The Monroe firefighters union is posting updates about Ann Brock on its Facebook page. -- Contributed photo