What should have been a day of celebration turned tragic Friday when a family leaving a North Georgia water park was run off the road by a dump truck, killing a grandfather and leaving an 11-year-old boy to fight for his life.
The truck, loaded down with gravel, blew a tire and its driver lost control, pulling into the path of the Dalton family’s SUV and hitting it and another vehicle head-on, authorities said. All three vehicles tumbled down a steep embankment along the Unicoi Turnpike, the main road that travels through the Chattahoochee National Forest between Hiawassee and Helen.
Jeremy Dalton, a Barrow County firefighter, and his family were caravanning back to their Watkinsville home after spending his daughter’s 15th birthday at a water park in Hiawassee, his family said. Dalton and his father-in-law, 63-year-old Mark Savage, were carting 11-year-old son Hinton and 10-year-old cousin Gabe in the SUV. His wife and daughter were in a separate vehicle and were not injured.
Credit: Towns County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Towns County Sheriff's Office
At the bottom of the embankment, the dump truck landed on its roof, but its driver’s injuries were minor, according to the Georgia State Patrol, which investigated the wreck. The situation inside the Dalton family SUV was dire, however. Savage was trapped and pronounced dead at the scene, and Jeremy Dalton and the two boys required transport to hospitals by helicopter.
The third driver, a 77-year-old man from Hiawassee, was also taken to a hospital in Gainesville with injuries.
Travis Cooper, Jeremy Dalton’s brother-in-law, said it’s been difficult for the family to process the loss of their grandfather when the situation with Hinton is so fragile.
The 11-year-old is sedated at Children’s Scottish Rite Hospital with a head injury, and doctors have yet to evaluate whether his brain is damaged. As of Thursday, the boy is being supported by a number of medical machines, but he has shown his family he’s fighting.
Credit: Courtesy
Credit: Courtesy
“The best way we’re describing it is two steps forward, one step back,” Cooper said of his nephew’s progress, describing his condition as critical but stable. Hinton is “my little buddy,” he said, an easygoing kid who is loved by many.
The family is relying on their faith in God as they wait for answers. After being released from a Gainesville hospital, Jeremy rushed to be with his wife Amanda at Hinton’s bedside. Miraculously, family and friends said, the firefighter’s injuries were not serious.
“Please keep their family in your thoughts and prayers as they are with his son, who is fighting for his life,” the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. A fundraiser organized by fellow firefighters has already raised $50,000 toward the Daltons’ medical expenses.
It’s only by faith that Cooper said he trusts Hinton will wake up and can get back to his favorite activities: spending time outdoors, tending to his small garden, and raising newly acquired baby chicks. The family is also joining in prayer for Gabe, who is fighting his own battles while being treated for multiple broken bones and other internal injuries.
A separate fundraiser for the 10-year-old has raised nearly $20,000.
Cooper said the family expresses their thanks to the Towns County first responders who helped that day, and for the entire medical team dedicated to caring for the two boys. Amanda Dalton is providing updates on Hinton’s condition on the family’s GoFundMe page.
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