An 86-year-old Athens woman died Sunday, nearly a week after she was seriously injured when she was hit by a forklift in the parking lot of the retirement complex where she lived.
Conoly C. Hester, a career journalist who previously worked for the Athens Banner-Herald, was taken to the hospital after the collision Oct. 18, her former newspaper reported. She remained in the intensive care unit at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center until her death, Oconee County Sheriff James A. Hale Jr. confirmed in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The crash took place in the parking lot of the Presbyterian Village retirement complex on Macon Highway in Oconee County where Hester lived, according to the Banner-Herald. Hester parked her car and was walking across the parking lot as a 34-year-old man was using a forklift to move a trash bin to its designated pickup spot.
Security footage reviewed by the Oconee sheriff’s office showed that Hester appeared not to see or hear the forklift as it drove toward her. The man driving the forklift told deputies he did not see Hester as he was moving the trash bin. He stopped after colliding with Hester, backed up and called 911 once he saw her.
According to the Banner-Herald, Hester moved to Athens in 1971 with her husband, Al Hester, a journalism professor at the University of Georgia. Together, the Hesters wrote a book called “Athens Georgia: Celebrating 200 Years at the Millennium.”
The Oconee sheriff’s office has offered few details about the case, but no criminal charges have been filed.
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