A Brownwood man was airlifted Thursday morning as the result of a one-vehicle rollover accident on Hwy 377 north of Early.
At approximately 10:36 a.m., emergency responders were called to the 5000 block of Hwy 377N. A 34-year-old male was driving a Toyota 4Runner southbound toward Early, when his vehicle left the roadway according to Department of Public Safety Trooper John Moody.
“For unknown reasons, the vehicle left the roadway to the right and the driver overcorrected to the left, causing the vehicle to go into a side skid (on all four wheels) to the center median and where it then began to roll,” explained Trooper Moody.
According to a witness, Brandon Thedford, who was driving approximately 400-500 feet behind the victim’s vehicle, the vehicle rolled and then came to a stop on its passenger side in the driveway of Cowboy’s Last Ride, a local casket company. Thedford stated that he pulled over and went to help the victim and found him to be buckled in the driver’s seat unconscious.
Workers from the business heard a “loud boom” and ran outside in time to see the vehicle still rolling. They were trying to help the driver, when a neighbor who lives at the RV Park across the highway alerted the men to a fire on the underside of the vehicle. Thedford stated that a worker, Karlin Castillo, ran back into the business and retrieved an extinguisher, as did the lady from the RV Park. It reportedly took about four extinguishers to put out the fire which continued to reignite.
Trooper Moody along with Early Volunteer firefighters arrived on scene and extricated the driver from the vehicle and began first aid. The victim was then drifting in and out of consciousness, and was able to speak to emergency responders, according to Moody. EMS arrived on scene and placed the driver into their ambulance until the helicopter arrived to air lift the driver to Scott and White Hospital in Temple.
One worker from the business stated that he truly believed the seat belt saved the man’s life, as all of the windows on the vehicle were busted out when it rolled.
The condition of the driver was reported to be very serious, his identity was not released at the time of the accident. Witnesses on scene stated that the driver had a large cut on the top of his head, indicating a possible head injury.
Texas Department of Public Safety, Early Fire Department, Early Police Department, Brown County Sheriff’s Department, Allegiance Ambulance Service, and Air Evac Lifeteam responded to the scene.
Pictured above is the damaged vehicle. Below are more photos of the accident scene.
