A 70-year-old Indiana woman was seriously injured in a single-vehicle, high speed wreck on Interstate 95 near the 61-mile marker northbound on Sunday May 3 at 3:37 p.m.
The woman was driving a 1999 Jeep Cherokee northbound when the car veered into the median. The driver overcorrected and lost control, causing the small SUV to flip over several times on the highway, coming to rest on its roof in the travel lanes. The vehicle received heavy damage and was leaking a large amount of gasoline.
The woman, who was wearing a seatbelt and the sole occupant of the vehicle, received multiple traumatic injuries, including a near amputation of the left arm.
A passing doctor, paramedic and Tybee Island, Ga., police officer stopped to assist. They pulled the woman from the car and applied a tourniquet to her arm to stop the severe bleeding, saving her life.
Fire-Rescue units arrived a short time later and administered additional care and requested the CARE Flight helicopter, who responded to the scene. The patient was flown to the Trauma Center at MUSC in Charleston.
The northbound lanes of the interstate in the area of the accident were blocked for about 20 minutes. After the helicopter departed, one lane was reopened. Traffic backed up five miles. The car was removed from the highway and the large amount of debris was cleared before the highway could be completely reopened an hour later.
The S.C. Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.
