Accidents afflict county
By Dwight Otwell Editor

DWIGHT OTWELL/Sentinel photo This accident occurred Thursday on Hwy. 19/74 at the Ingles intersection. Three seperate accidents with injuries occurred last week.

Three separate vehicle accidents in Cherokee County last week resulted in seven injuries, some serious.

Charles Richard Higdon, 67, of Old Robbinsville Road, Andrews, was severely injured on January 24 when his truck wrecked and turned over on U.S. 129 four-tenths of a mile from RP 1200, said North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Tim Crisp.

Higdon was traveling south when his 2001 dump truck ran out of the road to the right, crossed back onto the road left of center, struck the guard rail and overturned, Crisp reported.

Higdon was the only person in the one-vehicle accident. Graham County EMS transported Higdon to Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville.

Higdon and his brother David Higdon are co-owners of Higdon Construction Company in Andrews.

David Higdon Friday said his brother has more complications from the accident than first thought. He was in the trauma center at the Asheville Hospital. He said his brother underwent a six to seven hour operation Thursday. His brother has severe back injuries, he said.

“We have had a lot of people and friends calling and we appreciate every thought and prayer,” David Higdon said. “It is only through the grace of God that he is still alive.”

Two accidents in Murphy occurred on Hwy. 19/74 near the Ingles Shopping Center.

One accident was on January 23 about 5:41 p.m. at the Wells Connector Road and involved two vehicles.

Paula Holloway, 50, of Cherokee, ran a red light in her 2005 Cadillac and struck a 1998 Ford Windstar mini-van driven by Elizabeth Godbold, 21, according to Murphy Police Officer C. Kilby. Holloway was driving her car west on U.S. 19/74 while Godbold was coming out of the Ingles Shopping Center and traveling across the fourlane to Wells Connector, Kilby said.

Two people were transported to the emergency room at Murphy Medical Center from Godbold’s car and one person was transported from Holloway’s vehicle. The front seat passenger in Godbold’s vehicle had to be extracted, Kilby said. Four people were in Holloway’s car and three people were in Godbold’s vehicle, Kilby said. Charges are pending in the case, Kilby said. Another accident occurred January 26 on U.S. Hwy. 19/74 at its intersection with Ingles Drive about 1:15 p.m.

Glenda Sanders, 61, was operating a 1994 Buick LeSabre and Loraine Garrett, 77, was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Malibu. Sanders and her sister, Frances Fisher Johnson, 80, of Murphy, both sustained minor injuries and were released from the hospital, according to Murphy Police Officer James Pack.

Garrett was airlifted to the University of Tennessee Hospital. Pack said Friday that he just got word that Garrett was resting comfortably after suffering several broken bones. The incident is still under investigation, he said.