Three teens injured in car wrecks over New Year’s break

Published 1:39 pm Monday, January 3, 2011

Airionia Wilkerson, left, and Cheyenne Connor, were two of the teenagers injured in separate accidents this holiday weekend.

The holiday break held bad news for Greenville High School, as two separate wrecks in the county sent three teenagers to the hospital, two by Lifeflight helicopter.

Former GHS cheerleader Cheyenne Connor, 16, and her passenger Karlie Hill, 17, were Lifeflighted out on Thursday after Connor’s 2000 Oldsmobile collided with a 1996 Ford, according to the Evergreen State Trooper Post.

GHS cheerleader sponsor Kim Bowen has kept in touch with Connor and said that she is slowly recovering after incurring a broken hip, arm and collarbone from the collision.  Bowen said that Connor is stable and awake and is starting on a long road to recovery.

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As for the passenger, Bowen said that as of Sunday she was still in ICU. Bowen said that Hill was a former GHS student.

The occupants of the other vehicle, James McQueen, 35, and Willie Crittenden, 49, each incurred minor injuries, but did not need to be Lifeflighted out, trooper personnel said.

Saturday, a one-car accident left Airionia Wilkerson, 16,  cheerleader  at GHS, with a string of injuries. The wreck occurred Saturday at 6:05 p.m. on CR-42, with troopers from the Evergreen Post responding.

Wilkerson incurred a broken neck, arm and had to have several stitches and staples in her head, Bowen said.

Wilkerson is in stable condition, Bowen said, and is expected to be released in the coming days.

Wilkerson received the Co-Captain Award at the Greenville High School Fall Sports Banquet in December.

Bowen asked if the people of Greenville would keep these teenagers and their families in their thoughts and prayers.