Woman in critical condition after Friday crash

A late Friday afternoon accident near the McKeehan Crossing resulted in a 16-year-old female being flown to a Tennessee hospital with critical injuries, according to Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Pool.
Pool said the girl was riding with her grandmother, Novella Floyd, 73, of Rockhold, in a 1996 Toyota Corolla when the accident happened about 5:30 p.m.
Floyd was apparently unfamiliar with the area and thought McKeehan Crossing Road just went straight across, Pool said. She pulled across US25W into the path of Stephen Hinkle’s 1990 Ford F-150 pick-up truck, which “T-boned” the Corolla in the passenger’s side.
Members of the Woodbine and Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Departments had to extricate both Floyd and her granddaughter from the vehicle.
Whitley County EMS transported Floyd to Baptist Regional Medical Center, while Lifenet helicopter landed at the scene to fly the girl out to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Pool said.
Because the teenager is a minor, police said they aren’t releasing her name.
Pool said he talked to the girl’s family members Sunday, who said her condition was still listed as critical. Her injuries aren’t thought to be life threatening at this time, Pool noted.
Hinkle, 48, of Corbin, was not injured in the crash.
All three people were wearing seatbelts.
Both vehicles were totaled.
No drug or alcohol involvement is suspected.
Traffic was tied up on US25W for about an hour and a half Friday.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Wilson, Deputy Scott Lake, Kentucky State Police officers and Knox County EMS also assisted at the scene.