Dateline: December 22, 2005

Hedley senior breaks neck in car wreck

By Roger  Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

A Hedley High School senior remains hospitalized this week after being seriously injured in a one-vehicle rollover December 14.

Britney Upton, age 18, was traveling south on FM 1547 between Memphis and Quail when the accident occurred, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Daniel Hawthorn. For an unknown reason, the young woman lost control of her black Chevy S10 pickup, over-corrected, rolled multiple times, and was ejected and thrown through a barbed wire fence.

She was not wearing her safety belt.

Wellington EMS responded to the accident and transported Upton to Hedley, where she was airlifted to North West Texas Hospital in Amarillo. She was later medivaced to University Medical Center in Lubbock for additional treatment.

Upton is the daughter of Tim and Jackie Upton of Memphis. The family is giving regular updates to Hedley ISD instructor and Enterprise photographer Kari Lindsey, who is in turn posting that information on the school’s Web site at www.hedleyisd.net.

According to the family, Upton suffered six broken vertebrae, a fracture to her right collarbone, and multiple fractures in her right foot. Her right lung was also injured. She is reported to be doing remarkably well, and she ate her first solid meal Monday.

This accident was especially alarming for the Upton family because Britney lost a younger brother in rollover near Claude about ten years ago, Lindsey said.

DPS officials remind everyone to buckle their seatbelts to prevent injuries like those Upton received last week.

“Statistics tell us that 80 percent of rollover victims in light trucks who were wearing safety belts escape with only minor injuries,” Hawthorne said. “The stats speak for themselves. Buckle up.”

A fund has been established at Memphis State Bank to help with the Upton family with expenses as they take off work and travel to Lubbock to be with their daughter.