A family's victory turned into tragedy after a horrific crash Wednesday in Pinal County, Arizona, left three people, including a Coolidge mother and son, with serious injuries. 12 news. The crash occurred near Highway 87 and Arica Road and involved two vehicles with significant front end damage.
The Sherwood family was celebrating their team's victory in the roping competition, until an accident nearly killed them. Steve Sherwood learned of the accident shortly after leaving the event venue. “We were about five minutes behind,” he said, recalling the horror of approaching the accident scene. “As I was driving north on Arizona Highway 87, I saw what appeared to be an accident up ahead.” His fears were confirmed when he recognized the family's car. “The first thing that came to mind was that it could have been my wife and son who had gone down that road,” Sherwood said. 12 news.
Lee and Cole Sherwood were found conscious but severely injured, with their limbs mangled and Cole's bones protruding. “The best way to put it is they were both torn to shreds. Their legs weren't bending the way they should. My son's arm was broken and bones were sticking out,” Cole Sherwood told his father. That's what I told him. 12 news. The Eloy Fire District responded to the scene and firefighters used hydraulic tools to extricate the victim from the wreckage before airlifting him to a trauma center for treatment of life-threatening injuries. 12 news report.
The investigation into the accident is still ongoing, but early reports suggest catastrophic negligence may have been to blame. “I have reviewed the police report and it is incomplete as the investigation is ongoing,” Steve Sherwood said. “But apparently he looked down to check a message or look at his phone, and when he looked up the brake lights were off, so he didn't have time to stop and his reaction was to stop the car. “He swerved. Unfortunately, that's what he did. He came into oncoming traffic and my wife was heading north and didn't have time to react.” added. 12 news.
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help with medical costs. Interested community members can visit our fundraising page to make a donation. Steve Sherwood said, “It was great to see.” “If we can get just one message across, we're very grateful to the people. We have a long way to go, but we'll get through this. There's no need to be negative and say, 'Why us?' You might want to.'' But sometimes the ball rolls, you have your turn to have bad luck, and you grow from it and become stronger, and I think we will. ” he declared in an interview. 12 news.
