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Iredell soldier injured in wreck
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Published: July 2, 2009
An Army Reserve officer who was driving home to Statesville from California to surprise her husband and family is hospitalized in serious condition in Oklahoma following a motor vehicle accident.
First Lt. Lyndra Hedrick, who is assigned to the 108th Training Command in Charlotte, was returning home to Statesville after being mobilized for a training mission at Fort Hunter Liggett in California for the past year when the wreck occurred Sunday at about 6:30 p.m.
According to Lt. Col. Jim Kirkendall, a chaplain who was attending to Hedrick and her family after the accident, Hedrick's mission at Fort Liggett was "to train the soldiers who are fixing to go to Iraq."
Kirkendall said Hedrick, 34, was en route to surprise her husband, Bruce Hedrick, and other family members when the accident occurred, near Weatherford, Okla.
According to a report from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Hedrick was driving east on Interstate 40 when her 1998 Ford Mustang ran off the left side and struck the cable barrier. She continued to drive under the barrier and into the westbound lane.
Hedrick's car then struck the rear dual axle of a 2005 Kenworth Semi truck driven by Scott Logan, 58, of Arkansas.
The axle detached and hit the 2000 Ford Expedition of Oklahoma City resident Issac A. Fuentes, 23.
Neither Logan, Fuentes nor Fuentes' passenger, Brenda Salcido, 22, was injured.
Statesville attorney James Mallory, a major general in the Army Reserves and the division commander of the 108th Training Command, said he was sorry to hear of Hedrick's accident.
"She's a great soldier," Mallory said. "She's going to be there for a while."
But no one knows exactly how long.
Hedrick's brother, Shane Neeld, said his sister's injuries are serious. He said she has numerous broken ribs, both legs and arms are also broken, her lung is collapsed, her bowels have been torn and other organs have been impacted by the accident.
But the family is optimistic.
"The doctors say she is doing good for someone who was in an accident like that," Neeld said. "They said she should recover fine as long as no infections set in."
Lyndra Hedrick's church has set up a fund to help her family. Contributions can be mailed to:
Living Word Ministries
P.O. Box 6745
Statesville, NC 28687
All checks should be written to Living Word Ministries with a memo reading "Lyndra's Fund."
For updates on her condition, visit:
http://livingwordministriesnc.org/untitled1.html
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