Mother says teen critically injured in Dec. 10 accident improving

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 2, 2009

By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
ROCKWELL ó A Rockwell teen injured in a traffic accident earlier this month is showing signs of improvement.
Clinton Zimmerman, 18, remains in intensive care at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, but his mother said he is doing better.
Julie Zimmerman said her son has begun winking at people visiting him. He has also held up either one or two fingers when asked to do so.
The improvements are considerable, Zimmerman said, for her son, who has been in intensive care since being involved in an accident the night of Dec. 10.
Zimmerman said her son is sitting up and his eyes often follow visitors. For about two weeks after the accident, the teen remained in a medically induced coma.
Zimmerman said female classmate from East Rowan High School visited her son over the weekend.
“I said, ‘Do you see the pretty girls? Don’t you want to wink at them?’ ” Zimmerman said.
She said her son winked a number of times.
Zimmerman said they’ve also asked her son to hold up a single finger if he wanted to go “mudding” (a term that he and his friends use for driving their trucks through mud) or two fingers if he preferred going fishing.
Zimmerman said Clinton held up one finger the first time the question was asked of him, and two fingers the following time.
“He is doing remarkably better,” Zimmerman said.
Clinton, of 359 E. Main St., was injured when he was struck by a car while walking with traffic on Sides Road the night of Dec. 10.
According to the N.C. Highway Patrol, it was raining and Zimmerman was wearing dark clothes. He was struck by a 2006 Honda driven by Judy Huffman Lefler, 63, of 403 Joe St., Rockwell.
Troopers said Zimmerman was walking in the car’s lane of travel. Pedestrians are supposed to walk facing traffic.
Julie Zimmerman said the large rock in front of East Rowan High School has been painted as a tribute to her son and Adam Muncy, another student of the school injured in a car accident on Faith Road on Christmas day.
Like Zimmerman, Muncy remains in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center.
Julie Zimmerman said one side of the rock at East Rowan has been painted as a tribute to her son and the other side as a tribute to Muncy.
Julie Zimmerman said she is now staying at a hospitality house across the street from Carolinas Medical Center. She said she welcomes calls from friends or anyone else. The number for a phone outside the intensive care unit at the hospital is 704-355-1496.
“Phone calls, emotionally, they keep me going,” Zimmerman said.
She said she’s also been overwhelmed by the outpouring of cards the family has received. Those cards may be mailed to the family’s home.
Members of the Zimmermans’ church, Faith Baptist, have started a fund drive to help the family.
Cindy Cline said the fund drive began last Tuesday. She said the money would go to help the Zimmermans offset hospital bills.
Funds for the Zimmermans will be collected at F&M Bank, though the money must come through Faith Baptist Church.
Donors are asked to send checks to Faith Baptist Church, with a notation: “For Clinton Zimmerman.”
The church’s address is:
Faith Baptist Church, P.O. Box 84, Faith, NC 28041.