By Brian Livingston
Bob Skelding, the New Hampshire man whose horse drawn, homemade RV was obliterated by an 18-wheeler Tuesday afternoon on Highway 45 South, is still being treated at Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian for injuries he suffered when his wagon was hit.
Two horses died at the scene and two others are in the care of Dr. Billy Calvert in Kemper County.
The accident occurred near the Noxubee-Kemper county line south of Shuqualak. Skelding and his team had rested overnight in Shuqualak and were heading south toward Scooba when two 18-wheelers running side-by-side crested a hill behind him. One of the big rigs slammed into Skelding's wagon. The full extent of his injuries is unknown at this time.
Ironically, Skelding, once he began traveling on Highway 45 near Brooksville on Jan. 30, noted on his blog how the four-lane highway didn't have any shoulder to speak of and that "the traffic was really moving."
In mid-August of last year, Skelding began his trek in New Hampshire with a somewhat prophetic statement saying on his blog, "I don't know where I'm going or where I'll end up but I think I'm going to enjoy the people and places along the way."
For most of the more than 1,700 miles Skelding traveled, he was correct in that initial assumption. People and media along his nine state route that wound through New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and northern Mississippi embraced Skelding as someone who was doing exactly what he wanted to do. He was rapidly becoming a symbol in these hard economic times of what it truly meant to be a free individual.
"I'm not supporting any cause, trying to achieve anything, nor am I sponsored by anyone," Skelding wrote. "The sole purpose of this trip is to travel by horse and wagon and meet people."
Skelding's wagon, a 7,700 pound homemade RV complete with full bed, bathroom and kitchen, was pulled by four Percheron horses named Deedee, Dolly, Doc and Joyce. Skelding is a single father of two who worked as an electrical maintenance instructor at the Seabrook nuclear plant.
Many of the people he met during his journey fell in love with Skelding's dream. He noted in his pre-trip blog in August that many of us want to be free of bills and the daily grind.
"My dream is to travel freely about the country, seeing new places and meeting new people," said Skelding during that entry. "It's hard to take the steps necessary to live a freedom type lifestyle. It's hard to separate yourself from your security and material belongings and move completely out of your comfort zone. However, if you're determined enough it can be done. Sometimes life hands you a "Do-Over" - a window in your life where you can do everything over, exactly like you want."
