CORBIN —
By Becky Manley / Staff Writer
Two adults remained in critical condition Tuesday at University of Kentucky Medical Center and a Corbin girl remained in intensive care at University of Tennessee Medical Center following a weekend head-on crash on U.S. 25 S. north of Corbin.
The crash happened about 10 a.m. Saturday when a 1989 Chevrolet pickup driven by Rachel Hubbard, 36, of London, collided with a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Chassidy Wilson, 30, of Gray, according to the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department.
Chassidy Wilson and her husband, Donny G. Wilson, 34, who rode in the front seat of the Grand Am, were airlifted to University of Kentucky Medical Center, according to police, and Crystal Collier, who is Chassidy Wilson’s first cousin.
Crystal Collier said Chassidy Wilson underwent surgery Tuesday, and that it wasn’t the first surgery Chassidy has undergone since being hospitalized.
The Wilsons’ two children, Kali Wilson, 9, and Peyton Wilson, 5, were also taken to University of Kentucky Medical Center, Crystal Collier said. Kali was airlifted to the hospital while Peyton, who was initially taken to Baptist Regional Medical Center, was taken by ambulance to the Lexington hospital. The Wilson children, who both attend Lynn Camp School, were released from the hospital Sunday, Crystal Collier said.
Crystal Collier’s daughter, Jazlyn Collier, a Corbin Elementary third grader, was with the Wilsons when the crash happened, Crystal Collier said. The Wilsons were taking Jazlyn home.
Jazlyn, who suffered fractures to her sinuses and an eye, a broken jaw, a cut to her tongue that required stitches and brain swelling, remained at University of Tennessee Medical Center in ICU Tuesday, Crystal Collier said. The girl is expected to recover from her injuries, though Crystal Collier said it isn’t known how long her recovery will take.
Laurel County Sheriff Fred Yaden, who said that drugs or alcohol are suspected factors in the crash, said that results of the crash investigation will likely be presented to a Laurel County Grand Jury for consideration.
Police also said a lack of proper child restraints and seat belt use may have contributed to the injuries suffered by the crash victims, though Crystal Collier disputes that claim based on information she was given by a woman who helped remove the children out of the Grand Am.
That woman, Velvet Elliott, and her sister, Melissa Reeves, both said the children were restrained.
Elliott and Reeves were having a yard sale at Elliott’s Steele Lane home when they said they heard a crash. The women ran to the road where they said they saw the damaged vehicles, smelled gasoline and saw smoke rising from the hood compartment of the Grand Am.
The women said they were worried the car might catch fire.
“I wouldn’t have moved the kids if we didn’t think it was going to explode,” Velvet Elliott said.
The women said Peyton was in a car seat and the two girls wore seat belts, as did the Wilsons.
“Everybody in the vehicle had their seat belts on,” Elliott said.
Reeves said she and her sister were focused on the children so they didn’t notice the Wilsons’ conditions, although she remembers Donny Wilson asking them to take care of the children.
The Wilsons and Hubbard were trapped in their vehicles and had to be extricated, rescuers said.
The Laurel County Sheriff’s Department, with the assistance of Kentucky State Police Post 11 London, continues to investigate the crash. Other agencies that responded include Laurel County EMS, Laurel County Rescue Squad, Laurel County Emergency Management, West Knox Fire Department and Corbin Fire Department.
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