Mindy Carter (Photo used with family’s permission)
The woman trapped and injured after a trailer carrying a loader crashed into the car she was driving in Oak Ridge on Friday was in stable condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville on Tuesday, a spokesperson said.
Arminda “Mindy” Carter, 32, of Oak Ridge was flown to the UT Medical Center by a Lifestar helicopter after the Friday evening crash on Emory Valley Road at Carnegie Drive in east Oak Ridge.
Both legs were broken in the crash and she had broken ribs and right shoulder, as well as multiple lacerations and a torn quad, said Carter’s brother, Justin Pruitt.
She had a surgery on her left leg, which was broken above the ankle and below the knee, on Friday night, Pruitt said.
She was scheduled to have a surgery on a broken femur in her right leg on Tuesday, Pruitt said Monday evening.
At that time, Carter was still in the trauma center but in stable condition, he said. He said he wasn’t aware of any life-threatening injuries.
“She will be out for a long time, but we’re just happy to still have her,” Pruitt said.
Carter is a nurse at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, and she is married with three young children.
Pruitt said his sister has been in a tremendous amount of pain, and he’s not sure how long she’ll be in the hospital, although it would probably be at least another few days, he said Monday.
Friends who started a gofundme page to raise money to help the family pay for food, transportation, bills, child care, and other essentials while Carter is out of work and recovering say that she is a pediatric oncology nurse at Children’s Hospital.
“We cannot stress enough what a selfless and kind person Mindy is,” her friends said. “Her patients value her talent and poise, even stating how fitting it was for an angel to be with Mindy on the day of her accident—just like she is an angel for them.”
It took the Oak Ridge Fire Department about 55 minutes to free Carter, who was pinned inside a Toyota Camry, after the Friday evening crash. Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said it was probably the worst extrication he’s worked on where the person was still alive.
Carter was reported to be on her way to work at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital at the time.
Other rescuers who helped free Carter and provide oxygen and intravenous fluids during her extrication included a Lifestar crew, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Anderson County EMS.
Pruitt said it’s not clear how long it will be before his sister can work again. It was estimated that it could take three months for her left leg to heal, and it could be even longer for her broken femur, he said.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
You can see the gofundme page here.
You can see the story on the crash here.
You can see a story on the cause of the crash, according to the Oak Ridge Police Department, here.
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