Contributed Photo/Courtesy DPS: Two women were airlifted to a Tucson hospital after rolling this silver Buick off U.S. Highway 70 on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A horrendous crash that sent a silver Buick tumbling down a wash adjacent to U.S. Highway 70 resulted in two women being airlifted to a Tucson hospital for treatment Tuesday, Aug. 28.
According to an Arizona Department of Public Safety report, Christin Burkett, 26, of Morenci was eastbound on U.S. Highway 70 at about milepost 365 when she crossed over the westbound lane, jumped a cement culvert and rolled down into a wash. The car finally came to rest on its wheels in the wash and Burkett used her cell phone to call for help as her passenger, Tessa Jean Yeomans, 22, of Duncan, was trapped in the vehicle.
A DPS trooper responded to the scene shortly after 1:15 p.m. but couldn’t locate the crash. Burkett heard the sirens, however, and the trooper followed her instructions for help and discovered the car at the bottom of the wash.
Burkett allegedly told the DPS officer that she had lost consciousness while driving and didn’t remember anything about the crash.
Officers managed to assist Yeomans out of the vehicle and both were ultimately airlifted to a Tucson hospital for treatment of their injuries, with Yeomans reportedly suffering two broken arms and a broken pelvis. According to a report from her mother, Yeomans went through a 6-hour surgery and was responding well to treatment.
