By Jeanne Moos

(CNN) - There are certain moments in life that are so intense, so exceptional, they're etched in our memories forever.

Or, maybe not.

What's black and blue and has fur all over?

A Canadian motorist who hit a moose, lost all memory of the accident, and drove the car 25 miles to arrive at work on time.

Co-worker Cindy Paulson came running.

"And I said 'Michelle, what happened,'" said Paulson.

"And I said, 'Nothing.' And she asked me if I was ok and I said, 'Yeah, why wouldn't I be," said Michelle Higgins.

Blood was streaming down her swollen head, but when she turned and saw her car, the one she had just stepped out of, "I was devastated to see the state my car was in," said Higgins.

Next stop, the hospital.

Higgins has been recovering ever since from two broken bones in her neck and bruises galore.

[Reporter]: "Did you actually have a hoof print on your face?"

"Right up there," said Higgins.

She calls it a scuff mark.

But the moose looked worse that Michelle did. Police found it dead on the side of the road.

Higgins was driving from home to her job as a behavior therapist in Gander, Newfoundland. She believes she rounded a bend on the Trans Canada Highway and struck the moose, peeling back the top of the car.

"If I'd been an inch taller it would have taken the top of my head off," said Higgins.

She has no memory of driving the next 25 miles.

[Reporter]: "Stopping at red lights and making lefts and rights?"

"Exactly, yeah, I made two lefts and a right," said Higgins.

She says the memory loss really bothers her.

"I lost $5 a few years ago and still drives me crazy wondering where it is. Now I've lost my mind," said Higgins.

Finally, a pair of pedestrians came forward confirming they had seen her driving by.

She may never go down memory lane with her moose, but she's happy to be alive.

She says there was moose fur all over the car, all over her clothes, and, "That was in my bag," she said.

[Reporter]: "In your purse?"

"Yeah," she said.

Sadly for them both, Higgins bagged a moose.

"You can take it out in handfuls," said Higgins.

 

CNN