Three Teens Injured in Wreck, Car Roof Ripped Open to Free Them
By David Allen, The Shelby Star, N.C.
Jul. 15–BOILING SPRINGS –Bloodied airbags. A roof peeled back like a sardine can. A crowd, visibly concerned.
A Monday evening single-car wreck along McKinney Road near Luckadoo Drive spelled trouble for three female minors.
The driver, 16, front seat passenger, 17, and back seat passenger, 12, were all sent to the hospital for “significant” injuries, according to Highway Patrol Trooper J.A. Williams.
“She went off the right side of the road and overcompensated,” Williams said. “Pretty common.”
But it’s not every day that metal is ripped from a vehicle to bring a victim to safety.
At least one passenger was pinned in the white Ford car for several minutes. After prying open a hole, she was quickly taken to an ambulance for immediate treatment.
The vehicle, which was reduced to a gnarled convertible after officials finished freeing the entrapped passenger, came to rest against a roadside tree. Tire tracks lined several feet of asphalt before meshing into the grass.
Scanner traffic and officials on the scene said one passenger was to be airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte after a trip to Cleveland Regional Medical Center.
Two ambulances left the scene with sirens blazing.
At least a dozen emergency vehicles lined the roadway.
Additional information was unavailable late Monday.
Updated 7:11 p.m.:
Three girls were involved in the wreck, ages 16, 17, and 12, according to Allen.
All three sustained “significant injuries,” according to a state trooper at the scene.
Updated 7:07 p.m.:
Allen said the roof of the car had to be ripped off to free the two people inside. He said the helicopter was called off and instead the two injured will be taken to Cleveland Regional Medical Center and then flown to Charlotte.
Reporter David Allen is on McKinney Road, Boiling Springs, after a report of a single-car wreck with injury.
Allen said the road has been shut down and several dozen emergency vehicles are on hand.
The initial call went out around 6:25 p.m. Scanner traffic indicated an emergency helicopter may have landed in a nearby field.
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