This is the moment diners at a West Tennessee restaurant were left terrified when a deer ruined their dinner by jumping through a front window.
Alicia Owens was having dinner with her daughter Ava and the Hayes family after a school basketball game Monday night when the deer shot through the window of the Grind Restaurant in Martin, Tennessee.
“I hear a crash and a deer comes through the window,” Alicia said The Tennessean.
Alicia from Medina, Tennessee, recalled the surprising moment the animal came out of nowhere and suddenly found itself in the restaurant.
‘He got up and went crazy! I couldn’t believe what I saw! It was so bizarre,” she said.
A security camera captured the moment the deer jumped through the window behind Ruby, who fell to the ground as broken glass surrounded her.
A deer jumped through the window of a restaurant in Martin, Tennessee and nearly landed on a table, terrifying two families and injuring a 13-year-old girl
Ruby Hayes (right), 13, was having dinner with her family and friend Ava Owens (left) after a school basketball game when the deer crashed through the front window of the Grind Restaurant
Ruby’s shoulder was torn open by the deer’s hind hoof, Alicia said. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she received eleven stitches.
The unexpected incident left everyone in shock, prompting them to quickly get up and huddle in the corner.
‘He slides on the glass and can’t get a hold. He’s desperately trying to get up,” Alicia said.
‘I couldn’t believe it was actually a deer. We are right in the middle of town, across the street from the University of Tennessee Martin. It’s like, what in the world?’
Ruby and Ava played on opposite sides of a high school basketball game on Monday afternoon.
The security camera footage shows Ruby sitting at the table with her parents Bryan and Jennifer Hayes, Ava and Ava’s mother Alicia, casually eating and talking.
When the deer unexpectedly burst through the window, both families quickly cowered into the corner.
The mothers formed a barrier around two children, protecting them from the deer amid the chaos, while Bryan raised his arms to protect others and tried to scare the deer away.
A security camera captured the moment the deer jumped through the window behind Ruby, who fell to the ground as broken glass surrounded her
The mothers formed a barrier around two children, protecting them from the deer amid the chaos, while Bryan raised his arms to protect others and tried to scare the deer away.
Ruby quickly got off the floor, hands on her head. She was shaking a lot, Alicia said.
She told the Tennessean that the girl repeatedly asked, “Am I bleeding?” before she found the gash on her shoulder.
‘Ruby was shaking a lot. But she never cried. She just really didn’t know what was happening to her,” Alicia recalled.
The deer can be seen leaping nimbly around the restaurant, dodging any attempts at control.
Another security camera captured the moment he jumped to the back of the restaurant and onto the patio, leaving both diners and staff in disbelief.
The deer was eventually shot outside the restaurant by a patron with a gun, Alicia said.
She applied pressure to Ruby’s wound as Bryan drove them to West Tennessee Healthcare Volunteer Hospital.
Alicia said Ruby smiled and laughed with her family as they left the hospital, despite being in a lot of pain from her injury and having just received 11 stitches.
Alan Laderman, owner of The Grind Mac and Cheese Bar, shared NWTM Today that he has been in contact with the family to check on Ruby.
The restaurant owner said the deer was hit by a vehicle shortly before jumping through the window. It left the restaurant through the back door and was set down by a patron.
Another security camera captured the moment he jumped to the back of the restaurant and onto the patio, leaving both guests and staff in disbelief
The deer can be seen leaping nimbly around the restaurant, dodging any attempts at control
“According to a man walking by, he said, ‘That deer just got hit by a man,’ and then it ran over here,” Laderman said.
“We’re sending the family some flowers, get well soon balloons and a few gift cards to The Grind and Sammie’s today with the tagline: ‘Sorry we got a little wild at the Grind last night.’
After the incident, Alicia and Bradley Owens reposted the viral video to their social media, writing, “Please pray for Ruby as she had a serious cut on her shoulder.”
The restaurant, known to locals for its milkshakes, donut burgers and mac n cheese, remained open the next day.
‘Hey folks, despite last night’s crazy circumstances, we are open today. Above all, we are very grateful that Ruby and her family are doing well.” the restaurant wrote on social media the day after the incident.
“I guess you could say it was a bit ‘Buck Wild’ in the Grind last night!”