By Margie Wuebker
mwuebker@dailystandard.com Two Coldwater teens remain in critical condition this morning at a Toledo hospital, where they were taken following a car-semitrailer accident Thursday afternoon on U.S. 127 south of Celina.
Erin D. Pfaff, 18, 4344 Buschor Road, and Olivia M. Meyers, 16, 404 S. Second St., were taken by ambulance to Mercer County Community Hospital, Coldwater, before being flown by LifeFlight emergency helicopters to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center. Both are undergoing treatment for multiple injuries in the intensive care unit.
Pfaff stopped eastbound on Coldwater Creek Road before driving into the intersection, where her 1996 Dodge Intrepid was struck broadside by the southbound semitrailer driven by John Edward Schmidt, 57, of Sturgis, Mich.
One witness told Mercer County Sheriff's deputies smoke was coming from all wheels on the rig, apparently due to the driver's frantic attempts to stop prior to the 4:15 p.m. collision. Then she saw the truck pushing the silver car in her direction.
Another witness called 911 and then ran to the car. She called to both occupants, but received no response. Neither girl was using a seatbelt, according to sheriff's office reports. Rescuers summoned emergency helicopters as efforts continued to extricate both girls from the twisted wreckage. The aircraft were diverted en route with one landing on the designated pad east of the hospital and the other setting down in a nearby parking lot.
Schmidt was not injured in the crash which remains under investigation.
Celina Police Department also responded to the scene to help with traffic control as the business day ended for many area workers.. Authorities rerouted traffic along state routes 219 and 29 to state Route 118 in order to bypass the U.S. 127-Coldwater Creek Road intersection. It remained closed for nearly an hour.
The heavily damaged car was towed from the Butler Township accident scene as was the disabled 1998 Volvo semitrailer owned by Silver Foam of Jackson, Mich.
Pfaff, a 2004 Coldwater High School graduate, and Meyers, a sophomore at the school, reportedly were en route to Celina when the accident occurred. |
