Elderly Cantonment Couple Injured In Hospital Pond Wreck

October 27, 2014

An elderly Cantonment couple received minor injuries in an accident that left their vehicle in a hospital pond Sunday night.

The Florida Highway Patrol said 90-year old John J. Durnil made a left turn from the West Florida Hospital driveway onto University Parkway about 10:20 p.m. He continued to make the left hand turn in his 2010 Mazda car until he circled back onto the curb, then onto the shoulder of University Parkway and into trees, bushes and eventually a pond near the hospital’s emergency room. The vehicle came rest in just a few feet of water.

Durnil and his passenger, 86-year old Ruth Durnil, also of Cantonment, were transported into the West Florida emergency room with minor injuries.

Charges in the crash are pending investigation, the FHP said.

Comments

10 Responses to “Elderly Cantonment Couple Injured In Hospital Pond Wreck”

  1. tommy on October 29th, 2014 12:13 am

    I think annual tests over 70 are a good idea….just a basic eye and hearing test, maybe some kind of simple reaction test…and a basic vehicle light test.

  2. Rachel on October 28th, 2014 8:04 pm

    I don’t think you should have to do the driving test again heck i can’t even parell park right, and if i had to do the written test oh my god and im only 30, but i do believe at 70 and above should have an eye test and hearing test.

  3. Dennis HE Wiggins on October 28th, 2014 11:41 am

    - Over 60 and Greg ~ I don’t know about a driver license test, per se, but I think that at some point a regular hearing and eye screening at the DMV would not be a bad idea. I don’t know what age, but if you can’t see it or hear it, there is no way to avoid it!

  4. Over 60 on October 28th, 2014 9:59 am

    Greg, you must be very young. Let’s chat again about driving when you reach 60. I may still be around—driving.

  5. Greg on October 28th, 2014 1:18 am

    I think after the age of 65 there you should have to pass a driver lic test every year !

  6. Susan on October 27th, 2014 3:04 pm

    Pensacola has never been transportation user friendly for the elderly or handicapped.

  7. George on October 27th, 2014 1:07 pm

    It was 10:20PM! There may have been a medical issue that led them to go to the hospital. Let’s not be quite so quick to pull their license without all the facts.

    If it was a medical condition they could be perfectly well to drive after they recover.

    There are elderly people that should not drive and there are elderly people that make it just fine.

  8. anonymous on October 27th, 2014 10:29 am

    NASCAR flashback… Left! Left! Keep turning Left!

  9. Wow on October 27th, 2014 10:25 am

    I agree with you XD9. Glad they are okay but they really should think about giving up the license or at least stop driving at night. I guess they had no choice or no family nearby to help them.

  10. XD9RACER on October 27th, 2014 7:01 am

    Hope they made it through this OK.. Were they transported by ambulance or LIFEFLIGHT? He couldn’t have picked a closer place to get in an accident / collision. He is very lucky another vehicle wasn’t collected up in this where the end results could have been worse. It might be time to think about giving up his driving license and let a younger person do the driving.