One morning this past summer, Albert Trawick, a longtime resident of Hancock County, was driving his motorized wheelchair to the doctor’s office in downtown Sparta, the county seat just over 100 miles southeast of Atlanta by way of I-20.
The town that was once resplendent with Southern mansions is now so decimated by economic decline and an aging population that it has two funeral homes but no hospital. And the mansions sag in yards of crabgrass and dandelions.
Logging trucks and the business they represent have brought some hope to the struggling county, as they lumber down the two-lane roads with pine trees piled high on their flatbeds, making money for the landowners and providing jobs for some locals.
Trawick, like many in Hancock, lacked transportation and didn't know many who had it. And so, like other disabled residents in Sparta, he set out that summer morning on his motorized wheelchair, heading down Broad Street to his doctor's appointment.
As he approached Boland Street, a lumber truck slowed to stop for a red light.
Trawick began to cross, but the light turned green before he made it halfway.
The lumber truck driver could not see Trawick because the cab of the truck was so high. The driver shifted the orange tractor-trailer into gear and rumbled forward. When the driver felt a vibration, he thought he had a flat tire.
He drove more than 300 feet before onlookers caught his attention to alert him that a wheelchair and a bleeding man were attached to his grill. Trawick’s legs were crushed.
Trawick died on the helicopter pad at the old Hancock County Hospital site. And while Trawick likely would not have survived, his plight highlights a trifecta of bad luck for residents of Hancock and other rural Georgia counties — no transportation system, no hospital, and insufficient alternative care to treat residents plagued with chronic illnesses.
Now, a team of health care experts, state legislators and city and county leaders are hoping a program they’ve launched not only will make a difference, but will set an example nationwide.
Read about what they've done on our premium website, MyAJC.com.
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