CareFlite transports local resident to hospital
CareFlite transports unconscious driver to the hospital — After loosing consciousness behind the wheel, Jackie Whitney’s small Toyota® truck avoids homes, trees and parked vehicles before lightly crashing into a patch of brush and trees along a creek bed. CareFlite transported Mr. Whitney to Baylor in Dallas. (Barry Byers)
On Thursday around 4:00 p.m., the driver of a small pick-up lost control of his vehicle and steered into the right ditch along Dome Park Place in Italy. The vehicle then cleared a culvert, curved back up and across the road, crossed through the yard of a nearby dome where it clipped a small fence pole but missed a tree line before crossing over Kinfolk Lane. Once across the main road, the vehicle went down another ditch slipping between a utility pole and ground wire grazed a tree and the circled back around the home of Bobbie York.
York, who had just temporarily delayed a trip into Waxahachie, witnessed the vehicle cutting through her property from her window. York noticed an older male driver slumped over the steering wheel and immediately shouting for her daughter, Ashley Hernandez, to call 911. York tried to reach the erratic vehicle while her son-in-law, Cheeto Hernandez, put on his shoes and raced out of the house in hopes of assisting the driver. “I was very nervous as I chased after the truck, not knowing what I might find or what I might have to do,” stated Mr. Hernandez.
By this point, the vehicle had careened around the family’s vehicles, avoided the fence and a tool shed in the backyard and then began coasting, it seemed, further out into a nearby pasture. Hernandez continued to give chase as the vehicle cleared another ditch before coming to a stop after crashing into a patch of brush and trees along a small creek bed.
Hernandez quickly evaluated the driver and realized he was unresponsive. Unable to remove the driver or determine what may be wrong, Hernandez ran across the field to flag down help. A City of Italy truck stopped and entered the field after hearing Hernandez’s pleads. Simultaneously, Mrs. Hernandez had placed the call to 911 and an ambulance was on the way.
Hernandez returned to the driver, checked for I.D. and tried to reassure the driver who was still in and out of consciousness as Mrs. York and her son Andrew Barron looked on. Italy resident, Sandy Eubank, noticed the goings-on and pulled over to assist as well.
The Italy Volunteer Fire Department, along with an Ellis County Sheriff’s patrol car, arrived on the scene and CareFlite landed nearby. Mr. Whitney was flown to Baylor Hospital in Dallas, his injuries and what may have caused his loss of consciousness are unknown at this time. However, Mr. Whitney had recently undergone heart surgery and a heart monitoring device was noticed under his shirt when Hernandez first inspected him at the scene.
Keith Helms of Helms Garage in Italy removed Mr. Whitney’s truck from the brush and towed it away.
The small truck had traveled about a quarter of a mile winding its way through yards and property. Other than a couple of small fence poles being knocked down and the trucks damaged front end, no extensive property damaged occurred. Our only concern is the well-being of Mr. Whitney at this time.