Student hit by deer during marathon

Correction appended

For senior Nick Fernandez, a six-time marathoner gearing up to qualify for the Boston Marathon next year, it was always finish lines that ended races, not rampaging deer.

That changed Sunday as Fernandez was charged and mowed down by a deer during the fifth mile of a half marathon in western Montgomery County near Seneca Creek State Park.

"I saw this deer poking his head out of the woods," Fernandez, a mechanical engineering major, said. "We were running along this rocky back road, and I guess as I approached the deer he darted out of the woods and came right toward me. He somehow managed to knock me on my head."

Fernandez was knocked unconscious upon impact and awoke to find fellow runners and paramedics working to get him to a hospital. A helicopter arrived soon after, and he was flown to a local hospital where doctors diagnosed a skull fracture, a brain contusion and scalp lacerations that Fernandez received stitches for.

After three days in the hospital, Fernandez returned home yesterday and reported a slow but painful recovery.

"The worst of it is the head pain," he said. "Not so much at the site of impact ... like the back left of my head. Right behind my eyes. My head in general is swelling up."

A lack of appetite has caused some concern for Fernandez as well, although he's now taking in about 700 calories a day. The first day, he couldn't eat anything.

The incident has caused many to speculate about why the deer would act in such a crazed manner, Fernandez said, especially since most deer either freeze up or run away at the site of humans.

"My grandfather said maybe the deer had a baby near him," guessing the deer was acting defensively, Fernandez said. "Also, I was wearing red shorts, so maybe it was a bull [charging] kind of thing."

Although Fernandez noted he's "happy to be alive" and "happy to be on the road to recovery," he couldn't deny the disappointment in delaying plans for future marathons.

Sunday's half marathon was a way of preparing to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which he fell three minutes short of on his last attempt, Fernandez said.

"I had great plans for the fall when it came to running, but I don't know if it's going to come to fruition," he said. "I'll be gearing down now."

Contact reporter Kevin Litten at littendbk@gmail.com.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the incident as taking place in eastern Montgomery County.