Winston Salem Man Airlifted After ATV Accident In Avery County



A memorial day vacation in the mountains turned tragic for one family yesterday.  The incident occured on some property off of Mullin Hill Road in Avery County in which a 74 year old male from Winston Salem was flown to the Johnson City Medical Center after wrecking his 4wheeler. According to Fire Chief Kennie McFee of the Green Valley Dire Department, the family had leased out the property in Avery County and were camping on the land over the weekend. The victim told his family he was going for a ride and took off on his side-by-side ATV but never returned. After being gone for over 2 hours, the family set out in search for the man and discovered that he had plummeted down an embankment. Chief McFee reported that the man had run off the trail and traveled 300 feet down an embankment before hitting a tree. Units from the Green Valley Fire Department as well as the Linville Crash Truck arrived on the scene to find the man with a broken shoulder and a broken leg with numerous cuts and bruises. The Wings Air Unit was called in to air lift the man to the Johnson City Medical Center as units were able to carry the man out of the woods and load him onto the helicopter. The man was in stable condition according to McFee, no one was avaliable for comment at the Medical Center when asked on the victim's current condition.