Blind man, dog hit by truck in Moorestown

Gordon Parks is a fixture in the Lenola section of Moorestown, where he lives. He walked his Seeing Eye dog, Wendy, several times daily and faithfully used the crosswalks, say those who know him.

But sometime before 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, in a rare lapse, Parks and Wendy crossed in the middle of the block on Camden Avenue, not far from Lenola Road, said Moorestown Police Sgt. Randy Pugh.

The pair were struck by a 2005 Dodge pickup truck traveling east, Pugh said. Parks, 68, who was wearing an orange reflective vest, was thrown into the westbound lane.

He remained in critical condition at Cooper University Hospital last night, according to his family.

Wendy, the chocolate Lab who guided Parks for more than six years, was dead.

Parks' condition is "pretty grim," Madeline Parks, the victim's sister-in-law, said from the hospital.

Pugh never observed Parks, who lost his sight as a child, crossing outside of an intersection. "That's what's so baffling," the officer said.

In 2004, Burlington County officials approved a plan to install audible pedestrian signals on Lenola Road where it crosses New Albany Road and Camden Avenue, according to a news account that year.

No charges have been filed against driver Wayne T. Morris, 72, of Tabernacle, police said. Authorities continue to investigate the crash.

Parks' sight was poor even as a young boy, said his sister, Elaine Simmons of Westampton. When he was around 8, he was hit in the head with a swing and suffered hemorrhaging behind his eyes, Simmons said. Family members believe that may have led to his blindness.

But Parks adjusted, family members said. While attending the Overbrook School for the Blind, in Philadelphia, he was a lifeguard at the school pool, said Madeline Parks, who lives in Williamstown.

Parks attended college in Fargo, N.D., and studied to be a machinist. He worked various jobs, his family said, and remains an avid musician who plays clarinet and saxophone at nursing homes and churches.

Wendy was the second guide dog Parks owned, said his twin brother, Gervin. She was trained at the Seeing Eye, a guide-dog school in Morristown, Morris County.

"He loved that dog and that dog loved him," Gervin said.