CALHOUN WOMEN CRITICAL AFTER CRASH - Collision Saturday On Route 16

(05/29/2001)

Two Calhoun women are listed in critical condition at Charleston General, according to a hospital spokesperson. Both received multiple injuries in a two car collision Saturday on Route 16 between Orma and Minnora.

Naomi Ruth Dawson of Arnoldsburg is in the Intensive Care Unit. A family spokesperson stated physicians confirmed she had a heart attack at the time of the accident. They said Dawson is on life support, suffering two broken vertebrae, a punctured lung, fractured arm, fractured leg and multiple lacerations. They said she is "sedated but not in a coma."

The second woman is also "critical," according to the hospital. She has been identified as Brenda Billingsley, also known as Brenda Nichols, of Stumptown. A hospital spokesperson said she was in the surgical section of the Intensive Care Unit. The nature of her injuries are not available.

The women collided near a turn, with one being lodged on the floor board of her vehicle beneath the steering column. Emergency services extracted the women and transported them to the Upper West Fork Park, where they were life-flighted to CAMC by separate HealthNet helicopters. (SEE Hur Herald story on May 26)