An Ohio man remained in critical condition at a Knoxville hospital late Monday afternoon following a one-car accident Sunday along I-75 near Williamsburg.
Donald W. Curran, 86, was driving his 1999 Mercury Sable south on I-75 going to see family in Knoxville when he crashed near the 13-mile marker about noon Sunday, said Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Hodge.
"We don’t know what caused it. We don’t know if he went to sleep or had medical problems, but according to witnesses when he got over onto the shoulder he sped up and then went over behind the guardrail and went airborne," Hodge said.
Curran missed one group of trees before striking another head-on. According to witnesses, he never hit his brakes, Hodge said.
According to Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Alan Onkst, who helped investigate the accident, Curran was driving erratically for about half a mile before crashing.
"He drove about 600 yards between a guardrail and a rock wall," Onkst said.
He was "semi concious" when police arrived but could not tell them anything about the accident.
Onkst said he Curran suffered severe leg injuries and other trauma.
3-Point and Williamsburg fire departments extricated him from the vehicle, shut down the northbound lane of the interstate, and landed an emergency helicopter that flew Curran to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Hodge said.
He suffered multiple injuries during the crash.
"It’s a wonder he’s alive. It destroyed the vehicle," Hodge said.
No drug or alcohol involvement is suspected. Curran was wearing a seatbelt and the vehicle’s airbag did deploy during the crash.
"If he hadn’t had it on, it would have killed him," Hodge noted.
Whitley County EMS, Constable Jim Thornton and Deputy Alan Onkst assisted at the scene.
