Birthday ends in cycle crash
FORT WALTON BEACH — A woman was severely injured Saturday night when a car hit her motorcycle and sent her airborne. It happened on her 33rd birthday. Myria Jacobs of Laurel Hill was thrown almost 40 feet, said Fort Walton Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Bullard.
The accident bottlenecked traffic at the intersection of Eglin Parkway and South Avenue just after 6 p.m. Jacobs was heading south on Eglin through the intersection when the northbound car turned left onto South in front of her.
Jacobs hit the car’s windshield and flew over the vehicle before landing in the road.
Witnesses said she wasn’t wearing a helmet and investigators didn’t find one on the scene.
Bullard said Jacobs was still conscious when rescuers arrived.
“When I saw that, I thought even if they were wearing a helmet, it’d be bad,” said Sonia Daniels, a motorist who passed the scene minutes after the wreck.
Just after 6:30 p.m., a helicopter lifted off from the parking lot of Choctawhatchee High School and carried Jacobs to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.
She had suffered head injuries serious enough that doctors would give her a CT scan later, Bullard said.
“Those kinds of things can go downhill pretty quick,” he said.
Fort Walton Beach police Cpl. Candy Galindo said she believed Jacobs was stable when she was taken by an ambulance to Choctaw, but she was still listed in serious condition at Sacred Heart late Saturday.
The car’s driver, 74-year-old Elinor Monfils of Fort Walton Beach was cited for failure to yield, Galindo said. She suffered minor injuries and was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.
The Florida Highway Patrol was notified of the wreck at 6:10 p.m., when Okaloosa County sheriff ’s deputies reported they were already at the scene.
“I’ve just been nervous ever since I saw that,” said the passing motorist Daniels, who called the Daily News to check if Jacobs had survived.
“Those are always bad, but when it comes around the holiday, it just gets a little more personal,” she said.