Three-vehicle accident, 6900 block of 68th St. SE, Caledonia Twp.
Three-vehicle accident, 6900 block of 68th St. SE, Caledonia Twp.
UPDATE (6:00 P.M. Saturday)-- The Kent County Sheriff Department is identifying the 16-year-old driver as Anna Grantz of Alto. She was last listed in stable condition.
The other driver, 44-year-old Terri Boerema of Alto was also listed in stable condition. Her four-year-old son, Jack, remains at Spectrum Butterworth Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Grantz told investigators her vehicle fishtailed on the slushy road, sending her into the path of Boerema's car.
CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) -- An off-duty sergeant in the Kent County Sheriff's Department may have been the difference between life and death for a four-year-old boy critically injured in a car crash Friday afternoon.
Just after 3 p.m. Friday, investigators say a 16-year-old girl driving east on 68th St. in Caledonia Township swerved into the oncoming lane.
There was a head-on crash with a car driven by a 44-year-old Alto woman. Her four-year-old son was sleeping in the back, strapped into a car seat.
The two drivers were both seriously injured, but the boy was in worse shape -- he was not breathing and had no pulse.
That's when investigators say off-duty Sgt. Troy Woodwyk came upon the scene and helped revive the child.
"He performed life-saving measures on the child, who did not appear to be breathing," explained Sgt. Corey Luce. "They started CPR and brought the boy back."
Emergency crews wanted to send the four-year-old to the hospital via helicopter, but Aero Med was unable to fly due to weather conditions.
Investigators say weather may also help explain the crash.
"It's snowing, the roads are slushy," says Sgt. Luce. "I would have to believe the weather was a factor."
Although off-duty, Sgt. Woodwyk is an accident scene investigator for the Kent County Sheriff's Department. After the patients were all in ambulances on the way to the hospital, Sgt. Woodwyk went home, put on his uniform and returned to the crash scene with his tools.
"He gathered his gear and now he is doing measurements," said Sgt. Corey.