Accident victim won't be able to walk across Livingstone's graduation stage

By Steve Huffman

shuffman@salisburypost.com

A woman injured Tuesday in a traffic accident involving a Woodleaf firetruck is recuperating in a Charlotte hospital.

Latoya Gardner, 26, of Salisbury, is in fair condition at Carolinas Medical Center. She had her hip broken in four places in the accident, her mother, Trina Whitley, said, and also suffered damage to her pelvis and femur.

Whitley said doctors told her Gardner will likely be in a wheelchair or on crutches for three to four months, then have to learn to walk again. Doctors have said her daughter will never regain full strength in her legs.

"I'm just grateful it wasn't worse," Whitley said. "It's a blessing that God was there with her. He carried her. I'm thankful that she and the driver of the firetruck weren't hurt worse than they were."

Gardner was traveling west on Woodleaf Road when her Pontiac was struck head-on by an east-bound firetruck driven by Joseph Gregory. Gregory, 38, was charged with driving left of center after swerving to avoid cars that had stopped in front of him. He was not responding to an emergency call.

The accident blocked Woodleaf Road for two hours.

Gardner will graduate with honors from Livingstone College next Saturday, having majored in business management. Family members are hoping she'll be able to attend the graduation ceremony, though she'll have to be rolled across the stage in a wheelchair to receive her diploma.

Gardner's mother and her father, James Gardner, both described their daughter as a near-perfect child. They said she worked two jobs while also attending school full time.

Whitley said she's seen pictures of the demolished car in which her daughter was riding and was amazed she wasn't hurt worse than she was. A.J. Carpenter, the N.C. Highway Patrol trooper who investigated the crash, agreed, saying he'd seen far-less serious accidents that resulted in fatalities.

"If you look at the crash, you'd think for sure someone died," Whitley said.

Whitley is a deputy with the sheriff's department in Newton County, Ga. She said she holds no grudges against Gregory, the driver of the firetruck, and said she read a posting on a Salisbury Post Web site where he apologized for the accident.

"We all make mistakes," Whitley said. "I was concerned for him, too."

Artie Watson, chief of the Woodleaf Fire Department, said Gregory was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and should be fine.

Whitley said she was off work Tuesday when she got a phone call telling her her daughter had been involved in the accident. She said she was so distraught that she had to get someone to drive her to Charlotte from Georgia.

James Gardner, Latoya's father, lives in Knightdale. He said he was also relieved that his daughter wasn't hurt worse than she was, but said she faces a long recovery.

Gardner said he was also upset that his daughter won't be able to walk across the stage at her college graduation after years of hard work and after having earned honors status.

"She was robbed of something that can't be given back," Gardner said.