Gaines listed in 'serious' condition

By BETH FOLEY
The Palestine Herald

July 07, 2006 11:03 am

— A 19-year-old Palestine woman injured in a two-vehicle collision almost one month ago has been upgraded to serious condition at a Tyler hospital.
Martha Michelle Gaines, 19, of Palestine was listed in “serious” condition Thursday at Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, according to hospital spokesperson John Moore.
Gaines sustained multiple injuries shortly after noon on June 11 at the intersection of North Loop 256 and Sterne Avenue when her 2000 Buick Park Avenue was broad-sided by a truck/tractor which apparently had run a red light.
A family friend told the Herald-Press this week that Gaines remained in a coma and sustained a head injury in the accident, in addition to a broken pelvis, broken ribs, a badly-bruised spleen and other injuries.
“She has squeezed her mother’s hand when the family talks to her,” the friend told the newspaper.
A Palestine police report indicated the 1990 GMC truck/tractor operated by 46-year-old Kenneth Lee Woodworth of White Oak had a “registered gross vehicle weight” of 72,000 pounds when it struck Gaines’ vehicle.
Woodworth apparently ran the red light after his trailer’s brakes failed, police have said. The man was hauling oilfield equipment, according to police.
A fund has been established in Michelle Gaines’ name at the local Capital One Bank to help defray expenses associated with the woman’s injuries.
Gaines is the daughter of Mike and Janet Gaines.
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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com