Officials: Passenger turned on deputy's blue lights to signal help after crash

LINVILLE, N.C. — An Avery County Sheriff's Office deputy is in the hospital after a single-vehicle accident Sunday morning.

Officials said the accident happened on Highway 105 near the Linville Ridge subdivision in Linville around 2:30 a.m.

Deputy Ridge Phillips was driving his patrol car when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree on the side of the highway during heavy rain.

The sheriff's office said initial reports are the vehicle hydroplaned on the water, spun around and went off an embankment backwards, striking a large tree. A 20-year-old college student, Walker Carswell, was also in the car with him. Carswell had been attending basic law enforcement training at Maryland Community College.

Both were transported to Cannon Hospital in Linville. Phillips was later taken to John City Medical Center via ambulance, where he is in intensive car.

Carswell reached over an unconscious Phillips to turn on the blue lights after the crash. Officials said that led to the discovery of the vehicle by a Watauga County EMS unit, which had just left Cannon and was going back to Watauga County.

Medical staff members are monitoring Phillips to determine if he needs an operation to relieve pressure on his brain, caused by a head injury sustained as a result of the collision.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.

"Our prayers go out for the speedy and complete recovery of these two young men, no one is exempt from accidents and with as many miles as we travel each day, I think we are blessed we are not involved in more of them. " Sheriff Kevin Frye stated.

WSOC