Staff writer
Fifteen-year-old Corin Parmley of rural Cedar Point was hospitalized, and later released Tuesday, after the vehicle she was driving and a semi truck collided at the intersection of US-56 and Old Mill Rd.
Parmley, who will be a sophomore at Marion High School, was airlifted to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita with what a dispatcher described as “frontal lobe injuries.”
The semi was eastbound on US-56 and Parmley was northbound on Old Mill Rd. Parmley, who reportedly has only a farm permit, pulled into the intersection.
The vehicles collided, sending Parmley’s white car into the south ditch as the semi veered north of the highway, coming to a stop.
Parmley reportedly had been wearing a seat belt and got out of the car after the accident, eventually flagging down a passer-by for assistance. She was examined by emergency medical personnel approximately 50 yards from her vehicle.
The front of the truck ignited, emitting black smoke that was visible from just outside Marion’s city limits.
The driver of the semi truck was transported by county EMS to St. Luke Hospital. A witness on scene said the man had been trying to remove items from the cab of his truck before the blaze ignited.
“The whole scene could have been a lot worse,” EMS director Brandy McCarty said.
She said collisions involving large vehicles are often fatal for persons in the smaller vehicle.
Kansas Highway Patrol, who worked the scene, did not return calls from the newspaper for more information.