By Leon Alligood
MTSU/Seigenthaler News Service
A man injured Sunday afternoon in a head-on collision in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was transported to Townsend where he was airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
“There was a collision on Laurel Creek Road, the road leading into Cades Cove. We transported one patient, the occupant of one of the cars. It was a head-on collision,” said GSMNP Ranger Kent Looney.
The ranger said he could not comment on the extent of the man’s injuries. When the man was transported on a gurney from the ground vehicle to the chopper, he was seen wearing a neck brace.
Life Star landed in a grassy area next to the US Bank in Townsend just after 3 p.m. The patient arrived in an ambulance from the park a few minutes later. Prior to the ambulance’s arrival, members of the Townsend Fire Department and Townsend Police Department cordoned off the area to keep a number of bystanders from getting too close.