WHS senior in ICU after Sunday crash

A Williamsburg High School senior is in the intensive care unit at the University of Tennessee Medical Center following a single vehicle wreck Sunday morning near Exit 15.

This picture is from a Go Fund Me page, which has been set up with the goal of raising $20,000 for Hunter Briggs, who was in a serious car crash Sunday morning.

“He is very lucky that he survived it,” noted Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brandon Woods, whose department spent 20 minutes extricating Hunter Briggs from his Ford Focus. “He was pretty heavily entrapped.”

According to a post on Briggs Facebook page, he sustained multiple injuries in the crash, including a concussion, damage to his pelvic area, his spleen, his urethra, and multiple fractures, including his arms and legs. He has already undergone multiple surgeries, and is expected to need more.

Milly’s on Main, a popular sandwich shop in downtown Williamsburg, is closed while the owners’ son recovers from an automobile crash.

He is expected to be in the hospital for at least four months, and then he could be looking at more months in a rehab facility, according to a Go Fund Me page, which was set up for him with the goal of raising $20,000.

The single vehicle accident happened about 8:46 a.m. Sunday on the southbound ramp of Exit 15.

“He was getting on the interstate, didn’t make the curve and struck the wall,” Woods noted.

No one else was in the vehicle.

About 10 Goldbug firefighters worked to extricate Briggs from the vehicle.

Whitley County EMS then transported Briggs to the Williamsburg-Whitley County Airport. PHI emergency medical helicopter service flew him to Knoxville.

Woods said he doesn’t know what caused Briggs, 18, not to make the curve.

Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Prewitt, who is investigating the crash, said there were no skid marks, and he is listing speed as a suspected contributing factor to the crash.

Prewitt said he spoke with Briggs, who can’t remember what happened.

Because Briggs phone was “busted to pieces” in the crash, Prewitt said authorities don’t know whether he was texting prior to the accident.

Briggs vehicle was totaled.

He is the son of Tara and Rocky Briggs, who are owners of Milly’s on Main in Williamsburg.

The restaurant was closed Monday and Tuesday. A sign on the door simply states “Temporarily Closed! Please Pray for Hunter!!!”