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1 dies in wreck in Tenn.; ambulance personnel treated, released

Man reportedly turned into the path of vehicle carrying a patient; medic and patient taken to hospital

The Daily News Journal

CHRISTINA, Tenn. — A Christiana man involved in a wreck with a Coffee County ambulance Thursday night has died, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Ernest M. Spence Jr., 63, of Christiana Fosterville Road died in the wreck which happened around 7:45 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 231 (Shelbyville Pike) and Highway 269 (Christiana Road).

The wreck occurred when Spence reportedly turned left off Highway 231 to enter Christiana Road into the path of the ambulance, which was northbound with a patient toward Murfreesboro.

Spence, who was driving a 1999 GMC Savana van, was not wearing a seat belt, according to reports.

Also injured in the wreck were ambulance driver Sara J. Newman, 27, of Manchester; medic Beverly D. Colwell, 35, of Manchester; and Wendy M. Hill, 28, of Tullahoma.

Hill was a patient in the ambulance being transported non-emergency to Centennial Hospital in Nashville, according to Colwell.

“I was taking care of the patient in the back when we got hit,” Colwell told The DNJ on Friday.

She said she was bruised up pretty bad but did not suffer any broken bones, adding that both she and Newman had been released from the hospital.

“The patient’s care was released to Rutherford County,” she said.

Republished with permission from The Daily News Journal