Family wants road fixed after wreck paralyzes mother of 3 - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Family wants road fixed after wreck paralyzes mother of 3

Thirty-three-year-old Gidgett Stewart of Leake County is paralyzed and is in critical condition at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Stewart was involved in a single-vehicle wreck in October while driving along Highway 488 just outside of Carthage.

Stewart's mother-in-law said after two deadly wrecks happened at the same place, it's time something is done. 

"It was bad. She flipped seven times. She threw her out of the window on the driver's side. She just is bad. She's paralyzed from the neck down. Now she won't be able to hold her kids probably the rest of her life," Mary Wilkinson said.

Stewart, a mother of three, was driving a Ford pickup truck when she came around the curve losing control, Wilkinson said.

"I admit, they probably were driving too fast, but it's got a dip out there in the road and that road's too narrow and it's too curvy," Wilkinson said. "She left the road right there in that curve. That's where she was laying. That's where those other two people got killed, same spot."

Mississippi Department of Transportation's Assistant Chief Engineer for Field Operations Wes Dean said this is the first report that MDOT has had about a wreck happening at that exact location.

"I've already talked to our safety engineer about looking into this crash and any other crashes that have happened in the past three years," Dean said.

The next step is for MDOT to determine if it is a dangerous spot, if there have been multiple crashes and what exactly was the cause of each wreck, Dean said.

"We've already got the process going to look into this to see if there's anything we can do to help the situation and possibly prevent any other crashes from happening there," Dean said.

Stewart's family wants something done to prevent this type of accident from happening again.

"I want them to widen this road up and fix it. That's all that I ask, and maybe I can save someone else's life," Wilkinson said.

If necessary, Dean said a variety of things can be done such as adding more signs and pavement markings to improve the portion of 488.

The speed limit remains 55 miles per hour. Because it is a state highway, Leake County Board of Supervisors are not in charge of making any changes to the road.

Copyright 2012 Mississippi News Now. All rights reserved.