A two-vehicle wreck in Mentone on Tuesday afternoon left four injured and forced emergency helicopter landings on or near I-59 to take the victims for treatment.

According to the Alabama State Troopers, the two vehicles involved were a 2003 Honda, driven by Jennifer Crain, 28 of Valley Head, and a 2005 Ford driven by Regina Brown, 38 of Trion, Ga.

Mark Ford, chief of operations with DeKalb Ambulance Service, said the accident happened about 2 p.m. near Whatley’s Curve in the Mentone area, when the vehicles hit head-on.

Both drivers were injured, as well as passengers in each vehicle Alexis Crain, 3 of Valley Head, and Kelly Sims, 15 of Lyerly, Ga. Alexis Crain was reported to be in critical condition Wednesday at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. Information on the conditions of others involved in the wreck was not available.

Ford said weather conditions prevented AirEvac in Scottsboro and LifeForce in Chattanooga from sending helicopters on Tuesday, so emergency personnel called for LifeSaver to send helicopters out of Gadsden and Birmingham, respectively.

Ford said paramedics took one of those injured to a spot near the 227 mile marker on I-59, just off the Hammondville/Valley Head interchange, where a LifeSaver helicopter made an emergency landing on the interstate to pick up one of the injured.

He said paramedics then took another injured party to a spot just off the I-59 Collinsville interchange, at the intersection of Alabama 68 and County Road 51, where a second LifeSaver helicopter also made an emergency landing for transport.

FT. Payne Times – Journal