JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — The ambulance driver seriously hurt in a fatal crash on Tenn. Highway 67 in Johnson County on Tuesday night died Friday from his injuries, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.
Joseph R. Barlow, 57, Mountain City, died at Johnson City Medical Center. Trooper Mark Musick said he was notified of the driver’s death shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, but he had not been informed of the exact time of death.
Barlow was driving the Johnson County Rescue Squad ambulance west on Highway 67 about two miles from the Carter County line in Johnson County about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when an eastbound car crossed the center line and struck the ambulance.
The ambulance left the road, went down a 20-foot embankment and overturned.
The patient being transported, Alicia McCoy, 57, 125 Butler Lane, Mountain City, who had been on a stretcher in the back, was killed. Barlow, who was ejected from the vehicle, and a paramedic treating McCoy in the back of the ambulance, Kevin Colson, 32, Laurel Bloomery, received serious injuries.
The driver of the car, Brenda J. Buchanan, 51, 1270 Bluefield Ave., Elizabethton, was also injured.
Barlow, Colson and Buchanan were flown by helicopter to JCMC. Buchanan has since been released from the hospital.
Musick said Friday criminal charges against Buchanan were still pending.
Reprinted with permission from Johnson City Press.