HOLCOMB — A Greenwood man is recuperating from injuries from a head-on collision Friday morning on Mississippi 7.
Thomas Woody, 26, suffered a broken L5 vertebra along with a broken hand, finger and thumb in the accident, according to his uncle, Ray Archer.
Woody is hospitalized at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson in good condition.
“He’s doing well. He’s real sore,” Archer said.
On Friday night, a television station erroneously reported that Woody had been killed.
Woody, who works as equipment manager for the NFL’s Chicago Bears during football season, lives in Greenwood with his parents, Gary and Cindy Woody, the rest of the year.
Archer said that the accident happened around 9 or 10 a.m.
According to the Mississippi Highway Patrol report, Thomas Woody was driving his 2008 Jeep Liberty north on Mississippi 7 when a 1998 Ford Mustang, driven by 19-year-old Drekkerius Hicks of Memphis, hit an icy patch on a bridge south of Holcomb and entered Woody’s lane.
Woody was traveling alone. He was able to get out of his Jeep by himself, Archer said. Hicks had a passenger, identified as Shasha Harris of Greenwood.
Woody, Hicks and Harris were all initially taken to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Grenada with what were described as moderate injuries.
Archer said all three were later taken by ambulance to UMMC in Jackson on Friday. Patient information at UMMC in Jackson on Saturday reported having no record of Hicks.
Harris was undergoing surgery Saturday afternoon, and no condition report was available.
Archer said his nephew will require a back brace for about six weeks. He said Woody would likely be released from the medical center Monday or Tuesday.
Woody was wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident, and that likely lessened his injuries, Archer said. The Highway Patrol report on the accident does not indicate if the other victims were wearing their seat belts.
The Highway Patrol said the accident remains under investigation.
Archer said he hopes his nephew, a graduate of Pillow Academy and the University of Mississippi, makes a full recovery.
“He’s a good kid,” Archer said.
Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
