After an SUV crashed into Dorothy Ussery’s Dover home on Christmas morning, the 83-year-old has been left homeless. A recent offer from the driver’s insurance company only covered $10,000 of the expenses. The family has set up a Go Fund Me account to help rebuild her home and is still taking donations.
Shortly before 3 a.m. on Christmas, Ussery heard a crash in her living room. But it wasn’t Santa coming down the chimney.
“I woke up to this horrible sound and things flying through the air,” Ussery said. “I thought maybe an oak tree fell on (the house), but … It sounded more like an explosion.”
Ussery walked from her ground-floor bedroom into the living room and found a cloud of debris and an SUV.
“I couldn’t see (the driver),” Ussery said. “All I could hear was, ‘Help me, help me.’ I was shaking so bad, I could hardly talk, myself. I was in shock.”
According to police reports, a 30-year-old woman was driving an SUV on Moores Lake Road, a small residential street in Dover, and crashed into Ussery’s house. The driver suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and was taken to Tampa General Hospital. Ussery and her son, who lives with her, were unharmed.
“I came pretty close to getting hit by that car — probably two feet, because my bedroom was right there by it all,” Ussery said.
Though Ussery and her son did not suffer injuries, they did suffer great material loss, including a 55-inch color TV that they had recently bought, all of their Christmas decorations, furniture, items of personal significance and more.
But the biggest loss was the house itself, where Ussery had lived for 46 years. She and her son had recently renovated it, with the addition of a new bathroom, hardwood floors, an outdoor deck and fresh coats of paint. But the damage from the crash was so great, and the property was therefore so unsafe, that code enforcement officials decided the house had to be demolished within days of the crash.
Ussery had financial difficulties and had not been able to keep up with her homeowners insurance. The Red Cross immediately came to her aid by providing three nights in a nearby motel room for her and her son. The owner of the motel agreed to let them stay a few additional nights for free, which Ussery was greatly thankful for. She had surgery scheduled for her cataracts Jan. 6, and needed somewhere to rest and recover.
“I always pride myself in being strong and not really having to depend on anybody,” Ussery said. “But at a time like this, your pride is stripped from you and you have to deal with things you never thought you’d have to deal with.”
Ussery is not sure where she will go next. Her daughter, Melody Mathis, lives in Plant City, but in an upstairs residence, and Ussery cannot climb the stairs. She does not have other family members in town who can provide housing for her.
Mathis has set up an online fundraiser for her mother, and as of press time, she had raised $12,090 of $140,000. To donate, visit GoFundMe.com/jaxfws.
Contact Catherine Sinclair at csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.