2-year-old seriously injured in accident

EMS personnel load up a victim of a single car accident on Cedar Ridge Lane off Lentz Road near China Grove on Monday afternoon. At the time, a 2-year-old passenger was also transported to NorthEast Medical Center to meet an incoming medical helicopter for transport to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper D.H. Deal (right) looks over the single car accident on Cedar Ridge Lane off Lentz Road near China Grove on Monday afternoon. A 2-year-old passenger was transported to NorthEast Medical Center to meet an incoming medical helicopter for transport to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

By Shavonne Potts

spotts@salisburypost.com

A 2-year-old Salisbury girl was taken to the hospital for injuries she received in a single-vehicle crash Monday afternoon at the intersection of Cedar Ridge Lane and Lentz Road.

Jessica Meadows was a passenger in a 1995 Jeep Cherokee, along with her mother, Shannon Meadows, 20, of Pall Oaks Circle.

The sport utility vehicle was driven by Meadows' friend, Tina Austin, 17, of Cedar Ridge Lane.

The accident occurred at 1:30 p.m.

The child was critically injured, said N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper E.H. Deal.

She was taken by ambulance to Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast in Concord and later transferred to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

Hospital officials said late Monday that Jessica Meadows was in stable condition.

Trooper Deal said the child was restrained in a car seat.

Austin was turning off Lentz Road onto Cedar Ridge Lane when she lost control of the vehicle.

She ran off the right side of the road and collided with several trees, Deal said.

Both Austin and Shannon Meadows had minor injuries. Austin was also transported to Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast.

Hospital officials say Austin was treated and released.

Shannon Meadows was not taken to the hospital by emergency services.

Austin was charged with careless and reckless driving.

When Bostian Heights Fire Department arrived, all of the occupants were out of the vehicle, said Chief Mike Zimmerman.

He said Rowan EMS believed it would take too long for a helicopter to airlift the child, so she was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

The following agencies responded to the crash: the N.C. Highway Patrol, China Grove Police, Bostian Heights Fire Department, Rowan Emergency Services and Rowan County Rescue Squad.