Woman, 82, loses house in SUV crash
DOVER, Fla. — After 46 years of living in the comfort of the same home, 82-year-old Dorothy Ussery now considers herself homeless, after a car crashed into her living room around 3 a.m. Christmas morning.
Ussery said she was sleeping in her bedroom just a few feet away.
"It sounded like a flying missile," said Ussery. "(The house) is gone. The whole house is separated from the foundation. It's leaning. Any minute, it could fall."
According to officials, a 30-year-old woman was driving along the 3200 block of Moores Lake Road in Dover, a Tampa suburb, when she crashed into another home before plowing through Ussery's. The driver made it out alive, and Ussery was untouched physically, but the emotional scars remain.
"What did I ever do to deserve this?" said Ussery. "It's very hard not to have a place to live. I've never been homeless in my life."
Ussery said she does not have insurance on her home, and needs help to rebuild her life. The Red Cross is assisting with temporary shelter, and family and friends are helping her get belongings out of her home before it is torn down Monday. A fundraising account has been set up for Ussery at gofundme.com.