By HEATHER RUPPE
Colleton County rescue personnel are calling a Georgia man’s surviving a recent crash “miraculous,” as the truck he was driving crashed with a flatbed truck on Interstate 95.
The crash occurred on Dec. 8th near the 42-mile marker of I-95, near Walterboro and U.S. Highway 21.
One unidentified driver was driving a flatbed truck when it became disabled: the driver was stuck in the median side lane, unable to move, according to Colleton County Fire-Rescue Chief Barry McRoy.
That driver placed his emergency lights on. “The rural roadway was dark and a thunderstorm had recently passed through the area,” said McRoy.
Then, a 52-year-old man from Savannah, Georgia was driving a 2011 Chevrolet 2500 refrigerated delivery truck when it collided with the rear of the flat bed, crushing the man’s cab.
“There were no skid marks and the dash was pushed into the back wall trapping the driver in the wreckage,” said McRoy. “An off-duty nurse practitioner stopped to render aid until Firefighter-Paramedics arrived. Crews found the unconscious man heavily entrapped,” he said.
Rescue crews used tools to pull them man from the wreckage by taking off the doors to the vehicle.
Because of the poor weather, a medical helicopter could not fly. Therefore, McRoy says the man was treated during the 25-minute-long extrication and at the scene before he was taken to Trident Medical Center in North Charleston.
The driver of the flatbed truck was not injured in the crash.
The S.C. Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.
