Mo. Paramedic Paralyzed in Ambulance Crash

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A paramedic was paralyzed from the waist down after an SUV last weekend slammed into an ambulance on Interstate 55 north of Pevely.

The Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District on Wednesday confirmed the injuries suffered by Erik Bedwell. The 27-year-old Bedwell was attending to a patient in the ambulance when it was struck.

The ambulance's driver, district Capt. Greg Maguire, suffered a concussion and an injury to his spine, but has undergone surgery and district officials said they're hopeful he'll recover.

The patient in the ambulance suffered a fractured pelvis. He was being transported after earlier suffering a medical emergency, officials said.

The Missouri Highway Patrol responded to the collision around 2 p.m. Sunday on I-55 near Highway Z. A Jeep traveling north driven by a 60-year-old woman from Arnold swerved into the adjacent lane and hit the ambulance while it was also traveling north, according to a patrol report. The ambulance struck a guardrail, traveled into the grass median, hit a cable median barrier and overturned.

The woman driving the Jeep suffered a moderate injury. She was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated, according to the patrol, although she hadn't been formally charged in Jefferson County district court by Wednesday.

The Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District has started a fund for Bedwell, who has a "long road to recovery," administrator Curt Stueve said.