While Springfield’s Brad Huff walked away battered and bruised Sunday in his spectacular crash in the final stage of the Tour of Missouri, a spectator apparently wasn’t as lucky.

We received several reports Monday that a woman suffered a serious hand injury when Huff slammed into the barricade in front of Union Station in the crash on Market Street.  HIPPA laws prevent hospitals and EMS services from releasing the names of injury victims, so we don’t know the woman’s name. We hope she’s OK, but  her hand no doubt took a serious hit.  Huff was  sprinting to the finishing line  at about 45 miles per hour when he touched handlebars with Dominque Rollin and veered hard into the barrier before flying over his  handlebar and landing on his head and shoulders.

According to  Dan Moll, one of the concerned witnesses  who e-mailed the Post-Dispatch, the woman had a “pretty  big gash” on her hand. Though Moll didn’t actually see the collision, he saw the immediate aftermatch (the description of which is graphic).

“I did not see the crash happen; I was standing against the orange barrier and looking east as the riders came into the finish,” he wrote. “I heard a loud bang, metal on metal, almost like an explosion. We thought it was a car crash. I turned to the west toward the finish line, and there was Huff on the ground about 30 feet west of me. I watched the other riders maneuver around him, then I started walking behind the crowd in that direction. That’s when I saw security helping the woman.

“They were walking her away from the crowd, toward the hotel, and keeping her arm elevated to reduce the pressure.  Her hand was bleeding from a pretty big gash. Her hand was already looking black and blue in the middle, and of course she was in a lot of pain. They were calling for the ambulance, and several security folks were now helping, so I got out of the way. I really hope she is doing OK.”

As do we.

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