A Huntingdon man was airlifted to The Med in Memphis following a one-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 70A (State Route 77) Thursday afternoon between Atwood and McLemoresville.
Zachary Joseph Force, 31, was transported from the scene by ambulance to the parking lot of West Carroll Junior-Senior High School in Atwood. From there, Force was airlifted to The Med in a Hospital Wing helicopter.
Information regarding Force’s condition was not available as of press time.
According to the crash report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Force was driving eastbound on 70A in a pickup truck at around 4:15 p.m. when the vehicle veered off the right side of the roadway, swerved back across the highway, and ran off the left side of the roadway.
The truck then struck a tree in the front yard of a residence at 3515 Highway 70A and came to rest upright in the side yard.
Heather Ecker, who lives at 3515 Highway 70A, said she was in the kitchen cooking supper when she heard a loud booming sound.
“I though someone had run into the house,” said Ecker.
According to Ecker, she first checked on her daughters to make sure they were okay and then went outside.
When she saw the wrecked truck, Ecker called 911 and then went out to see if anyone was hurt. Ecker said she recognized the driver as Force, who she said was barely breathing.
According to the crash report, Force was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
Another local man was airlifted from the school parking lot in a separate helicopter shortly before Force. According to emergency responders at the scene, this was an elderly man who had suffered a heart attack.
