Driver Airlifted After Grain Truck Overturns

A single-vehicle accident resulted in a semi driver being airlifted to a Nashville hospital, after the truck he was driving overturned off of Highway 22 near the racetrack in Gleason Saturday afternoon. Photo by Sabrina Bates/The Enterprise

BY DAVID FISHER

david@dresdenenterprise.com

GLEASON (November 27) — A semi driver was airlifted to a Nashville hospital, after sustaining injuries in a single-vehicle accident over the weekend.

According to official sources, at approximately 3:43 p.m., Saturday, November 27, a 60-year-old truck driver was traveling north on Highway 22 in a 1997 Freightliner semi-truck. When the driver attempted to turn right onto Bynum Road, the semi overturned on its right side.

The tractor-trailer, owned by Lewis Farms, was hauling a load of grain at the time of the accident.

When emergency personnel arrived at the scene, the driver was beginning to regain consciousness. The victim was reportedly in an awkward position and could not move. Although his eyes were open, he was groggy, his breathing was labored, and he was unable to speak.

Emergency personnel used the jaws-of-life to cut the top off the roof of the truck in order to evacuate the victim from the wreckage.

Gleason Fire Department was dispatched to the scene of the accident, after diesel fuel was detected leaking from the semi.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol and Weakley County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the scene.

Weakley County Ambulance Service emergency medical technicians treated the victim at the scene, before transporting him to Gleason’s helicopter pad. The victim was airlifted from the helipad and flown to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, via Air Evac Lifeteam. His condition was unknown at press time.

The semi was hauled away by wrecker.