March 25, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
An 18 year old woman was injured Saturday night after her 2002 Jeep Cherokee went off Highway 56 north (Cookeville Highway) and overturned down a steep hillside embankment before coming to rest upside down in a hollow several feet below the road.
According to Trooper Sean Tramel of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Courtney Nichols was driving south when the Jeep hydroplaned and then went out of control as Nichols overcorrected. The Jeep narrowly missed the end of a guardrail as it left the highway and plunged down the hillside north of Hurricane Bridge in the Blackberry Hill area.
Since there were no witnesses to the accident and the wreckage was out of view from motorists, Nichols went unnoticed for a long period of time. Entrapped in the Jeep, Nichols sounded the horn trying to attract attention.
Bobby Hull, a resident close by, heard the sound of the horn from his home and went to investigate. After spotting the wreckage, he sought help.
Members of local EMS, first responders, law enforcement, rescue and extrication operations converged on the scene. After removing Nichols from the Jeep, fire and rescue volunteers used climbing rope and a stokes basket to bring her to the top of the hill. She was then transported by ambulance to Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital.