A 45 year old Sparta man was airlifted after his truck went off the road and struck a tree late Friday night near 2512 Sparta Highway (Highway 70 east).
Central dispatch received the call at 11:14 p.m.
Trooper Mark Jones of the Tennessee Highway Patrol told WJLE that Johnny Lynn Etheridge was driving east in a 1997 Ford F250 when he went off the left side of the highway, down an embankment, and struck a small tree. After impact, a portion of the tree broke and fell onto the truck. Etheridge was removed from the vehicle and taken by DeKalb EMS to a landing zone near the scene where he was airlifted by a Life Force helicopter ambulance and flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Members of the Midway and Short Mountain Highway Stations of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department also responded along with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.
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