By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
The fate of a woman injured in a head-on collision between her car and a dump truck on Stokes Ferry Road was unclear Wednesday night.
The accident happened about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 6400 block of Stokes Ferry Road, about 100 yards north of its intersection with Beagle Club Road. According to the N.C. Highway Patrol, Connie Drye, 49, was driving north on Stokes Ferry Road when her 2001 Nissan Altima ran off the right side of the road.
Drye jerked her car back onto the roadway, but the vehicle crossed the center line and struck a dump truck that was headed south. Skid marks indicated the site of the collision.
Trooper M.E. Heon of the N.C. Highway Patrol said Drye was alive when transported from the scene, but admitted her condition appeared grave.
“She’s still with us,” he said about 4:30 p.m. “That’s all I know.”
Heon said Drye was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. But a spokeswoman said Wednesday night the hospital had no record of Drye being admitted or treated in its emergency room. Calls to Heon were not returned Wednesday night.
Other rescue workers said Drye was taken by ambulance to Rowan Regional Medical Center with plans to transport her to Carolinas Medical Center. A life-flight helicopter that landed at the crash site sat idling by the road for about an hour before its pilot flew it away, leaving the craft’s two nurses to accompany Drye to the hospital in an ambulance.
Rescue workers said Drye’s condition took a turn for the worse after she was pulled from the car. The Altima’s roof had to be cut loose to extract Drye. Heon said rescue workers were having a hard time stabilizing Drye’s vital signs once she was taken to the ambulance, making it impossible to airlift her from the site.
Calls to Rowan Regional Medical Center were not returned Wednesday night. A Highway Patrol dispatcher said he had no information about the condition of anyone injured in the accident.
The driver of the dump truck that Drye’s car collided with was Sydney Harvey, 57, of Salisbury. He was driving for DLB Trucking of Rockwell. Heon said Harvey was involved with road work that is taking place along a long stretch of Stokes Ferry Road.
Heon said Harvey was not responsible for the accident.
Following the collision, Harvey’s dump truck continued south on Stokes Ferry Road before coming to rest in a field, its front end heavily damaged and its front axle apparently broken.
Those first to arrive on the scene said Harvey’s only concern was about the occupant of the car his truck struck. They said Harvey suffered abrasions caused by his truck’s seat belt. He was taken by ambulance to Rowan Regional.
The force of the collision caused Drye’s Altima to spin around in the road, the vehicle facing south after the crash.
“It’s a miracle no one was killed,” said Javin Honeycutt, deputy chief of the Liberty Fire Department. “When you have a dump truck vs. a motor vehicle, there’s usually a fatality. When I got out here today, I was just hoping and praying that wasn’t the case.”
The first people to arrive on the scene said Drye appeared to be in relatively good condition considering the magnitude of the collision.
Mikey Stoke and his wife, Joy Sowers, of Davidson County were following the dump truck. They pulled their car off the road and to a halt, then went immediately to check on Drye.
“She was talking,” Stoke said. “Her legs were pinned under the dash, but she seemed OK. I told her she was going to be all right. She had her seat belt on.”
“That’s the only thing that kept her from going through the windshield,” Sowers said.
Ernie Athey, a former member of the Millers Ferry Fire Department, was traveling north on Stokes Ferry. He said he was about 300 yards behind Drye when the crash occurred.
“I saw the truck going down through the field,” Athey said. “It looked like a bush hog.”
At the accident scene, bystanders thought for a long while that Drye’s injuries were relatively minor, leading to a sense of relief that may not have been justified.
“Heck, yeah, I’m surprised no one is dead,” Athey said. “Look at that truck, look at that car.”
In addition to the Liberty Fire Department, volunteers from the Gold Hill and West Liberty fire departments responded. Also responding were members of the Rowan County Rescue and Rowan County Emergency Medical Services squads.
Stokes Ferry Road was closed for more than an hour after the wreck. Heon said charges are pending.
Drye’s address is 9120 Stokes Ferry Road.