By Jay Almond, Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 — An all-terrain vehicle (ATV) crash in Aquadale around 5 p.m. Sunday sent an Oakboro man to the hospital with multiple injuries.
Travis David Little, 29, of N.C. 742 just outside of Oakboro suffered severe head injuries and other physical trauma when the ATV he was riding hit loose dirt and rolled down a 75-foot embankment, coming to rest on top of him.
Emergency workers arrived on the scene to find Little, one of about eight or nine riders in the area, conscious but badly injured, Aquadale Fire Chief and Stanly County EMS medic, Terry Smith said.
They secured him and carried him from the crash site in a patient transport called a Stokes Basket through heavily wooded areas and along the railroad track to a nearby field where a medevac helicopter waited.
One of Little’s riding companions called 911 and several others may have pulled the ATV off of him.
The extraction took about 20 minutes, according to first responders on scene.
Little, an employee of Butch’s Auto Parts, a local NAPA dealer, was taken to Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) for emergency treatment where he remains in serious condition.
Danny Burris, 29, a co-worker, fellow auto enthusiast and long-time friend of Little, said the store has received a large outpouring of well-wishers since the crash.
Burris said Little was revived from a comatose state Monday and recognized visiting family members.
“He’s a great guy and he’s like a brother to me,” Burris said.
“You wouldn’t believe the people who’ve called in and stopped by here.
“His condition’s getting better I think.”
Jane Almond, an Aquadale resident who lives next to the railroad near the crash site, said it’s not uncommon for 4-wheeler type ATVs, such as the one Little rode, to frequent the area.
Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railroad is repairing the section of railway off Old Aquadale Rd. near the Carolina Solite Plant in Aquadale.
A 75-foot section of dirt under the railway collapsed in November due to flash flooding, leaving ground around the railway unstable.
Roughly 120 yards of railway is being rebuilt and a new 210 foot pipe is being installed beneath it.
Those conditions have been attractive to ATVers since the repairs began, Almond said.
“Yesterday they were riding around out there and my neighbor told me they were riding up and down that bank,” she said.
Almond watched from her porch as the medevac helicopter landed in a field about 100 yards from her house where it waited until Little was loaded aboard and flown out.
Jay Almond can be contacted by email at snaponline21@yahoo.com.
