Truck Smashes Into Clinic

By Editor | September 4, 2024 |

George Crocker points to where a vehicle came off South Main Street and traveled through a yard before striking a building on South Main Friday morning. The driver sustained minor injuries.

WATER VALLEY – A motorist sustained minor injuries after crashing into a building on South Main Friday just before noon. Barry Hamilton was driving north on Main Street in a 2018 Toyota Tundra pickup when he apparently lost consciousness and left the roadway, crossing two residential yards and narrowly missing several large trees and a utility pole before hitting

Yalobusha Medical Clinic. The truck crashed through the south wall of the building and came to rest inside the building, leaving a gaping hole. The truck was not visible to passers-by.

Yalobusha County EMA Director Stewart Spence and Deputy EMA Director Jarred Logan reported they were leaving the Yalobusha County jail when a motorist flagged them down, reporting that a pickup almost hit him and had crashed into the building. Spence and Logan were first on the scene.

“The way the tin on the side of the building was damaged, it looked like someone had ran into the building and backed out,” Logan told the Herald. “I got to looking and finally could see the tailgate inside the building.”

Hamilton was able to contact his wife on his cell phone and let her know that he had crashed and was inside the building.

The Water Valley fire fighters and police officers were dispatched to the crash, and helped free Hamilton within minutes. He was able to walk through the hole in the building and was placed on a stretcher. He was checked out at the scene and was able to leave with his wife.

Lee Crocker with Lee’s Towing pulls the pickup out of the building.

First responders reported that Hamilton likely experienced a medical emergency that caused him to lose control of the vehicle. There was no skid marks or other indicators that he tried to brake before hitting the building.

“In my 31-year career, this is the first vehicle that I have ever seen that drove all the way into a building,” Water Valley Fire Chief Mark McGavock reported. “His back bumper was 10 feet inside the building.”

Cinnamon Foster, the owner of the building, told first responders that the clinic was closed Friday for Labor Day and there was nobody inside the building when the incident occurred. Foster arrived on the scene shortly after the crash and was relieved to find the driver was safe and unharmed.

“It is a miracle that he was uninjured, having dodged all of the pine trees, the telephone pole and the steel post at the corner of the building,” Foster told the Herald.

Foster also said when the truck pierced the metal siding of the building, it was very fortunate that the driver did not hit a steel post head-on. The impact broke two cross beam purlins in half, allowing the truck to fully enter the building causing major damage to the area of the clinic where staff members see patients.

“I am so thankful that my nurse and I were not at the clinic seeing patients due to the Labor Day holiday. We both are always in these particular rooms (that are demolished) right before lunch.” Foster stated. “We would have been trapped and crushed between the front end of the truck and the accordion-like debris and rubble that had been pushed forward through the building including five reinforced walls, two large glass windows, three heavy metal exam tables, multiple chairs, stools, cabinets, counter tops, desks, lab equipment and computers all while the ceiling, light fixtures, insulation and the HVAC system were falling from above. I thank God that all three of us are alive and without injury, and that it was a holiday so we were not working.”

Lee’s Towing service was called to the scene and extracted the truck from inside the building, pulling it back through the hole in the building and onto a wrecker.

Foster stated that the clinic was also closed Monday for Labor Day and she will be getting the clinic’s phone number forwarded to a cell phone on Tuesday to be able to continue to receive calls while the building is shut down. She anticipates being able to see patients again very soon and that she and her nurse will be available to patients during the renovation period.

Foster also extended gratitude to the police officer running the scene, Officer Jakirio Horton, and other first responders who responded swiftly and efficiently to the accident and provided her with moral support and reassurance while effectively handling the scene in a highly organized and professional manner.