An Elyria girl and an Oberlin man hurt in an accident early yesterday morning are both still in MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.
Erin Martin, 17, is in serious condition, and Rodney Cannon, 20, is in critical but stable condition, according to hospital representatives.
According to the Elyria post of the State Highway Patrol, they were in a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt traveling south on state Route 511 just south of Jones Road when they failed to negotiate a curve. The car went off the road and went airborne, striking traffic signs and utility poles and ejecting the pair. The patrol believe Martin was driving but is not 100 percent sure.
Robert Stanley said he was driving to work at Elyria Foundry about 2:30 a.m. when he noticed lights shining up into the trees and then noticed the car in the ditch and called 911.
He saw Martin lying facedown in a field and didn’t initially see Cannon, who was unresponsive in a ditch on the other side of the road.
“She just kept crying for me to help her,” Stanley said. “She was in pain, and she was freezing.”
Stanley said he had no idea how long she’d been there.
“I covered her up best I could,” he said. “I was trying to comfort her the best I could until somebody got there.”
About 10 minutes after he arrived, Stanley said a truck driver stopped as well. It was only when the truck driver went out to the road to flag down emergency vehicles that they noticed Cannon in the ditch.
“I had asked her if there was anyone else in the car,” Stanley said. She had said no and just kept screaming for help, Stanley said.
The two were taken to Allen Community Hospital in Oberlin and then LifeFlighted to MetroHealth.
According to the patrol, it does not appear either was wearing a seat belt, and it is unclear if alcohol or drugs were a factor. The crash remains under investigation.
“She was talking, and she didn’t sound drunk or anything, she just sounded like she was in pain,” Stanley said. “And there was no response out of him.”
Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.
