Last Friday, when rescue personnel from several departments responded to a predawn crash on a foggy morning, they found a Jeep Cherokee in a creek with a driver suffering from a severe injury, trapped inside the Jeep.

Rescue personnel who were dispatched around 6:42 a.m. last Friday, September 10, included deputies, officers, firefighters, EMTs and a paramedic from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, Worthington Fire Department, Wright Township Fire Department, Jasonville Police Department and Greene County Ambulance Service.

GCSD Deputy William C. Walker, the investigating officer, reported the driver was Matthew Thomasson, 18, Jasonville. Thomasson was headed south on North County Road 700 West in the area of CR 1000 North in a 1999 Jeep Cherokee when he went off the roadway. After going off the road, the Jeep landed in the creek. Thomasson was injured, and trapped inside the Jeep.

It was still dark out and there was heavy fog in the area. Worthington Firefighter Mike Steward said when WFD was toned out, they were advised extrication was needed.

Steward said when WFD arrived on the scene, Major George Dallaire, GCSD’s chief deputy, was already in the water beside the driver’s door with the driver suffering from severe trauma to a leg and a driver’s door that could not be opened to get the driver out.

According to Steward, WFD Firefighter Corey Mauder entered the water and got in through a rear door, then while an EMT tended to the driver, removed the back seat of the vehicle. Rescuers then rigged a ladder to stretch between the creek bank and the vehicle and they moved the driver, who was placed on a backboard, out the rear of the vehicle, across the creek to the bank where an ambulance was waiting nearby.

No additional information has been released regarding the driver’s injuries or his current status, but due to the nature of his injuries on the scene, he would have been evacuated by a medical helicopter but they were grounded that morning due to the fog. The driver was transported to Terre Haute Regional Hospital by the Greene County Ambulance Service.    

A press release from GCSD did not state the cause of the crash, but Steward noted it was near a bridge, with a jag in the road, during predawn hours, on a foggy morning.