Family grateful for first responders and bystanders

Archie and Susan Bledsoe were on their way to Douglassville from Texarkana last Tuesday morning to take their granddaughter home when they were struck by an oncoming vehicle near the intersection of FM 96 and FM 2791 near the Antioch Baptist Church, seven miles outside of Queen City.

Susan Bledsoe was seriously injured in the accident and was airlifted to a hospital in Tyler.

She reached out to the Atlanta Citizens Journal from her hospital bed to tell her story and to give thanks for the first responders.

She said of the other driver, “He was driving pretty erratically, going from side to side and I mean all over the place. He went out into the intersection almost going straight”, she said, “My granddaughter screamed out and was pointing towards it and I turned around to see her. I had taken my seatbelt off to see if she was hurt because I didn’t see him. I thought he had gone straight. My husband said, hold on, this ain’t gonna be good.”

Susan Bledsoe does not remember much after the collision with the other driver. She was in the passenger seat.

“Everybody thinks I was driving be cause my whole left side is crumpled but my husband was actually driving.”

Archie Bledsoe and their granddaughter sustained minor injuries.

“My husband broke his toe and part of his foot and where he threw his arm across me, he cut it and had to get stitches. She [granddaughter] just had a bruise on her stomach from the seatbelt. They used the jaws of life to get him out.”

“I remember there was a man there and he was holding my head straight and there was a lady who was cutting my pants off and I’m going to tell you, those two people are angels. They kept me calm and awake the whole time. I don’t have a good memory of everything but I remember that.”

“I just want to thank all the people that were there who stopped and tried to help me. I’ve never had anything like this happen before, ever. The lady that got my granddaughter out, she grabbed my phone and started calling people and I really appreciate that. Getting people, out of my phone to the scene.”

“I don’t know how to thank them enough. There’s just so many angels and a majority of the angels came out of Atlanta there. I really appreciate it. I don’t know how to put it in words.”