Wreck victim in critical condition

Published 8:30 am Friday, December 4, 2009

FRANKLIN—A Newsoms man was in critical condition Wednesday evening, a day after his vehicle collided head-on with a cotton hauler on General Thomas Highway.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Michelle Cotten said Wednesday that Derrick Lee Callicutt, 29, was the driver of a 2000 Mercury Mystique that crashed into a 1989 Kenwood cotton hauler at 2:50 p.m. Tuesday.

After being extracted from the wreckage by rescue workers, Callicutt was transported via the Nightingale air ambulance service to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for treatment.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said Callicutt was in critical condition Wednesday evening.

The accident occurred at General Thomas Highway and Shady Brook Trail. Callicutt was driving west on General Thomas when he crashed into the eastbound cotton hauler, which was attempting to make a left turn onto Shady Brook Trail.

Cotten said 71-year-old Farris Henry High Sr., a resident of Lamesa, Texas, and the driver of the Mid-Atlantic Cotton Gin hauler, was cited for failure to yield the right of way.