Accounts set up for Beth Hudson at two banks; more details emerge in accident report
Dec 29 2008
Accounts have been established at Islanders Bank and Key Bank to help defray Beth Hudson's medical expenses.
Hudson, 62, is recovering at Harborview Medical Center from injuries sustained in a vehicle collision Dec. 21 on Portland Fair Road. As a result of her injuries, her right leg was amputated below the knee. She is expected to have surgery on her left leg this week, her brother, Steve, said Friday. She has several broken ribs, a lacerated liver, a bruised pancreas, and broken bones in her right shoulder.
"The family appreciates everyone's concerns and encourages prayers for her safe and speedy recovery to these injuries, which are life-altering injuries," Sheriff Bill Cumming said earlier.
An accident report filed Dec. 26, 4:48 p.m. by Deputy Felix Menjivar provided details of the nightmarish scene.
At about 10:30 p.m., Hudson and her daughter, Bridget, were driving eastbound on Portland Fair Road, having left a friend's house on Panorama Hill Road. Hudson lost control of her 1995 Eagle Summit and the two front tires got stuck in the snow.
Hudson and her daughter got out of the vehicle and tried unsuccessfully to push it. A few minutes later, Michael L. Sandifer, 17, drove by in the opposite direction and pulled his Jeep over in front of the driveway at 450 Portland Fair Road to see if he could help. Minutes later, Sandifer's father and mother, John and Lisa, pulled up in a Toyota Sequoia and stopped to help.
According to the report, Michael told his father that Hudson needed help putting chains on her car tires. His father advised him to block the road with his Jeep and put his hazard lights on.
At that time, John Sandifer saw the headlights of a vehicle traveling eastbound toward their location and he remembered seeing Hudson standing near the back of her car. The oncoming vehicle struck Hudson, crushing her against the rear corner of her car.
The car was later identified as a 2007 Subaru Legacy driven by Derik Lindsey, 20, of Friday Harbor.
The impact spun Hudson's vehicle around and pushed it off the side of the road. Lindsey's car rolled over Hudson and dragged her, collided with the side of John Sandifer's Sequioa, then stopped in the middle of the road with Hudson trapped underneath, Menjivar's report states.
Lindsey's car also clipped Michael Sandifer, injuring his ankle. Bridget Hudson, who was sitting in her mother's vehicle during the collision, struck her head on the windshield.
Lisa Sandifer called 9-1-1 and Michael Sandifer moved his Jeep to the intersection of Portland Fair Road and Treeline Drive to stop traffic. EMS Chief Jim Cole, responding to the scene in his 2008 Ford Explorer, stopped at the Jeep and was told by Sandifer to head down the road carefully because the road was icy.
Cole told Menjivar that he came to a blind downhill right-hand curve and saw headlights. He said he was going very slow and came to stop, but then his vehicle started to slide down the hill. He told Menjivar that he yelled at people in the roadway to get out of the way. He tried to regain control of his vehicle but it collided with the left front corner of John Sandifer's Sequioa and then the right rear corner of Lindsey's car, "breaking the outer clear lens of the right rear taillight" and "possibly" pushing the car and Hudson 3-5 feet further down the hill.
San Juan Island District 3 firefighters used heavy-lift jacks to lift the vehicle off Hudson, Assistant Fire Chief Brad Creesy said. She was flown to Harborview by U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.
Lindsey was held for questioning but later released and his car was impounded for investigation, Cumming said. A blood sample was taken from Lindsey for testing. A female passenger of Lindsey's was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol.
"Investigators are still working to determine the dynamics of the accident," Cumming said. "No more information will be available until that investigation is completed and the information is forwarded to the prosecutor for review."
Cumming said icy road conditions were a factor in the crashes; a front wheel of a San Juan Island fire engine went off the road at the scene and another engine used a tow chain to get the engine’s four tires back on the road. The engine sustained no damage and there were no firefighter injuries.
Creesy said a county plow and sander were in the area and went to the scene. “They really helped by putting more sand down so we could get more traction,” he said.
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