By MONA NAIR 6
News Reporter
MARYVILLE (WATE) - Two teens were
airlifted Monday night from the scene of
a single vehicle crash involving four
Greenback School classmates in
Maryville.
The
four are: Dale Starritt, Ryan Seymour,
Caleb Simpson and Dyllan Roulette.
The
Tennessee Highway Patrol says the
driver, Simpson, lost control of the
Chevrolet Suburban and it ran off the
road and rolled at the intersection of
Calderwood Highway and Coker Road.
All
four teens in the Suburban were ejected.
None were wearing seat belts.
Two
of the injured were airlifted to UT
Medical Center due to the seriousness of
their injuries.
Ryan Seymour's father, Richard, says his
son is on life support and fighting for
his life. Ryan's father has not slept
since he got the call about the
accident.
"He's not doing real well at all. I'd
like to take this opportunity to have
viewers pray for us. Please put him in
your thoughts and prayers," said Richard
Seymour as he stood in the lobby of the
hospital.
Ryan is one of the main football players
at the school.
With 25 stitches on his elbow, Dale
Starritt is the lucky one. Starritt says
Simpson and Roulette were taken in
serious condition. Roulette has since
been downgraded to stable.
"This is rough. This is really rough. I
wish it was me," Starritt said.
Starritt admits they were not being
responsible when the speeding Suburban
ran off the road.
"We
were trying to be stunt devils, trying
to fishtail around the curve," said
Starritt.
Starritt says he knew right after he
climbed out of the wreckage that Ryan
had been hurt the worst.
"I
held him in my arms and told him that
everything was going to be alright,"
said Starritt.
School staff members say they are pretty
shaken up by the incident.
Four Greenback
students seriously injured in
Calderwood Highway wreck
By Mark Boxley and
Matthew Stewart The Daily Times
Four Greenback
high school students were
seriously injured when the
Chevrolet Suburban they were
riding in flipped several times
and ejected all of them in a
single-vehicle accident on
Calderwood Highway.
According to
Tennessee Highway Patrol Sgt.
Randy Huckeby, the four were
driving south on Calderwood
Highway near the 6-mile marker
about 6 p.m. Monday when they
came around a curve and the
vehicle went off the right-hand
edge of the road. The driver of
the vehicle tried to get back
onto the roadway but reportedly
lost control and the vehicle
flipped four times and landed on
its wheels. None of the four in
the SUV were wearing seat belts
and all were thrown from the
vehicle, Huckeby said.
All four young
men involved in the wreck — Ryan
Seymour, 18, Caleb Simpson, 16,
Dell Starritt, 15 and Dyllan
Roulette, 16 — are students at
Greenback School, according to
teacher Melanie Shepherd.
Greenback
School, which has about 700
students in pre-K-12, is still
reeling from the wreck, Shepherd
said. “When something happens to
one family, it truly affects all
of us. We’re trying to stay
strong for each other.”
Two of the
accident victims were flown by
Lifestar helicopter to
University of Tennessee Medical
Center and the other two were
taken by Rural/Metro Ambulance
Service to UT Medical Center. No
information about their
conditions was immediately
available from the hospital.
Along with
Huckeby, Trooper Joey Lindsay,
the Blount County Fire
Department and Blount County
Sheiff’s Office responded to the
accident.
Investigation
into the wreck is ongoing.
