SALYERSVILLE – Two women were seriously injured in a wreck on the Mountain Parkway Thursday night after their vehicle rolled multiple times.
Two motorists stopped after seeing the vehicle overturned on July 1, checking on the women and trying to help until emergency crews could arrive.
Steven Wheeler, the first motorist to stop, told Mortimer Media Group he came around the curve (near the 74-mile marker on the Parkway), and he saw the lights roll over and go dead.”
“I had seen the truck pass me a while back, but I stopped and called 911, got their names and made sure they were alright, and tired to hold the truck up,” Wheeler said.
A couple minutes later, Terry Smith also stopped, and helped get the truck up until EMS could arrive. He said he talked to one of the women, who told him where they were going and everything, basically just trying to keep the pair talking and alert until crews could get to the scene.
Wheeler said the pickup truck passed him going the same direction approximately 20 miles back, but they were not speeding and the driver did not seem to be erratic or impaired.
The two women were an aunt and her niece, with the aunt in the passenger seat and fast asleep, she told officials.
Initial investigations indicate the niece who was driving may have also fallen asleep, though the actual cause of the wreck is unknown.
Both were seriously injured and taken by ground ambulance to Paul B. Hall Medical Center, and then transferred to Pikeville Medical Center. Their injuries are believed to be serious, but not life-threatening, attributed in large part to the fact both women were wearing their seatbelts.
