Two people injured in Oak Harbor crash caused by medical emergency

A driver experiencing a medical emergency caused a crash that sent him and another driver to the hospital Thursday afternoon. The 74-year-old Oak Harbor man was spotted swerving as he drove into town in a silver sedan on Highway 20 around 2 p.m.

By Debra Vaughn • April 14, 2016 7:07 pm
Firefighters respond to the scene of an accident on Highway 20 at Erie Street in Oak Harbor this afternoon.
Firefighters respond to the scene of an accident on Highway 20 at Erie Street in Oak Harbor this afternoon.

A driver experiencing a medical emergency caused a crash that sent him and another driver to the hospital Thursday afternoon.

The 74-year-old Oak Harbor man was spotted swerving as he drove into town in a silver sedan on Highway 20 around 2 p.m.

An Oak Harbor police officer was attempting to pull him over when the driver crossed the centerline and hit a 54-year-old Island County woman driving an SUV waiting to turn onto Erie Street, said Police Chief Ed Green.

The impact pushed her car into a feed truck in the next lane. The airbags in her car deployed and she was hurt but not seriously, said Fire Chief Ray Merrill.

The man was seriously injured. Both drivers were rushed to Whidbey General Hospital.

The driver of the feed truck and his passenger were OK.

“Holy moly, we could have been right there,” said Cindy Watson.

She was heading home when she saw the crash.

“Usually we go this way. We could have been there.”

The police chief offered kudos to the feed truck driver from Anacortes. After the crash, he hopped out of his truck and helped direct traffic as the first officer on the scene helped the injured drivers.