A local 13-year-old died Tuesday morning after falling off the back of a moving vehicle on Cecil Wyatt Road near Corbin.
Hailee Martin, 13, was airlifted immediately after the accident Saturday to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, according to her grandfather, James Jones, where she died around 7 a.m. Tuesday.
“She was a special girl. She never met anyone she didn’t like or wouldn’t help,” Jones said. “ God just decided to take her from us a little early.”
According to her grandfather, Martin was excited that she had just dyed her hair and was showing everyone when the accident occurred.
“She just jumped on the back and fell off,” Jones said.
Merica and Glenn Martin are the parents of Hailee.
Martin turned 13 in January and was an eight grader at Corbin Middle School.
The grandmother of a close friend of Martin’s, Joan Rich, said Hailee liked being involved in everything.
“She was full of life and energy and she just loved people,” Rich said. “She was a good kid.”
Volunteers from Oak Grove Fire Department were on the scene as well as Whitley County EMS. The child was transported by ambulance to the Corbin Motor Speedway before being airlifted out.
