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The Florida Highway Patrol said the driver of a Chrysler 300 hit a woman who got out of her Toyota Camry to tend to an opossum that was injured on Aug. 10

The woman was taken to a hospital and later succumbed to her injuries

Opossums can play dead if they feel threatened, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

A woman was killed in Florida when she was struck by a vehicle as she got out of her car to help an injured opossum, authorities said.

In an email shared with PEOPLE, the Florida Highway Patrol said the incident occurred on Sunday, Aug. 10, at about 9:54 p.m. local time, when a Toyota Camry driven by a 31-year-old man from Spring Hill was traveling on Hexam Road in Brooksville.

"The driver stopped to check on an injured opossum,” the agency said

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