This story is equal parts tragic and shocking. Former Miss Russia Kseniya Alexandrova spent weeks in a coma before dying after hitting an elk while driving back from vacation.

Things were going well for Alexandrova. The model was the runner-up for Miss Russia in 2017. She later represented Russia in the international Miss Universe pageant. To top it off, she got married in March of this year.

The newlyweds took a summer vacation to the town of Rzhev in the Tver Oblast region of Russia in early July. On July 5, they set out to drive three hours back to Moscow. They were nearly home when an elk leapt over the M9 highway and smashed into the passenger side of their car.

The tragic aftermath of the crash with an elk

Alexandrova’s husband, Ilya, remembers, “An elk jumped out from somewhere, jumped out in front of the car.”

He described the scene as gruesome. “From the moment it jumped out until the impact, a split second passed. I did not have time to do anything. The elk flew into the car. The blow hit [Alexandrova] in the head. She was unconscious, her head was broken, everything was covered in blood.”

Evidence showed there was little he could have done. Instead of landing in front of the vehicle and striking the bumper, the elk appears to have jumped high enough over the car that the airbag never deployed. The couple was reportedly both wearing their seatbelts and driving the speed limit.

After more than a month in a coma, Alexandrova died on Aug. 12. She was 30.

Her modeling agency wrote that Alexandrova was “bright, talented and extraordinarily bright. She knew how to inspire, support and give warmth to everyone around her.”

Elk are only native to a few regions, including North America and Eastern Asia. But collisions with such large animals can be deadly for everyone involved. You can see the latest coverage of Alexandrova’s death in the video embedded below: