Post by Todd B on Mar 5, 2007 13:40:38 GMT -5
Article published Mar 5, 2007
Ida family ‘in awe' of overwhelming support
Tim Berta, the Ida graduate who was injured in a bus accident in Atlanta Friday, remains listed in critical but stable condition at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
He was a passenger on a charter bus carrying the Bluffton University baseball team that crashed early Friday morning. Jimmy McMonagle, also of Ida, was on the bus but was not injured. Six people died in the crash - four students, the driver of the bus and his wife.
Mr. Berta, 22, was thrown from the bus after it struck the side of an overpass and plunged to the expressway. He suffered head trauma, broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade and bruised lungs. His spleen was removed along with a blood clot on the outside of his brain.
"He's still critical, but there has been some improvement so we're encouraged," said his father, Rob Berta. "The left side of his body took the brunt of the blow. All of his ribs were broken."
Mr. Berta is on a respirator, but his father said it has been decreased and his son's lungs have begun working in a minor capacity.
"That's a good sign, but the doctors told us we're not out of the woods. They told us to be prepared for setbacks,'' Mr. Berta said.
He said the family has been overwhelmed by the support from the Atlanta community and others. The East Tennessee State University softball team, playing in a tournament in Georgia, stopped at the hospital.
"They all signed a card and came to see the boys. They said they had seen our story on TV and just wanted to tell us they were thinking of us," Mr. Berta said. "We're in awe by what we have witnessed. It gives you faith in people again."
Many of the Bluffton players and family returned to Ohio Sunday.
Jon Betts stepped off a charter flight wearing the same baseball cap that his son wore when he died.
Since the accident, Mr. Betts said, he has spent a lot of time telling the players who came away with only minor injuries that "it was okay that they survived."
About 30 people walked off Sunday's flight - one player limping, another with his arm in a sling - and greeted those waiting on the tarmac at Toledo Express Airport with hugs. A hearse drove to the back of the plane to transport two players' bodies.
"He died doing what he loved and who he enjoyed being with," Jon Betts said of his son, David, a sophomore. "That's all that is important to us."
Also killed in Friday's crash were sophomore outfielder Tyler Williams of Lima; Scott Harmon, a freshman from Lima; and Cody Holp, a freshman from Arcanum. The driver and his wife, Jerome and Jean Niemeyer, also died.
The team from the Mennonite-affiliated university was traveling to its annual spring training in Florida when the charter bus crashed before daybreak. The bus was carrying 35 student-athletes, coaches and bus drivers. The 1,200-student school will be closed this week for spring break.
Investigators said the driver apparently mistook an exit ramp for a regular lane, and the bus crashed into a barrier at a T-shaped intersection and plummeted off the overpass onto the highway below.
On Sunday, investigators interviewed two players and a coach who were recovering from injuries.
One player said he had seen nothing unusual up until the time of the accident, and the driver was not talking on a cell phone or radio, said Kitty Higgins, who is leading the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation.
There are tire marks at the scene, but they do not suggest the driver slammed on his brakes, Higgins said. The bus showed no mechanical problems.
Georgia transportation officials said Sunday they had no immediate plans to close or add safety signs to the highway exit ramp where the bus crashed.
The state Department of Transportation wants to see recommendations from the NTSB before adding any new safety devices such as signs or stoplights to the I-75 ramp, spokesman David Spear said.
"We won't wait until their final published report. If during the course of their conversations it might make this better, we're going to act on it," he said.
There are two "Prepare to Stop" signs on the ramp, which exits off the left lane, and the same words are painted on the ramp itself, Spear said. The NTSB has said that the accident site has had numerous crashes and can be difficult for drivers to navigate.
Fred Hanscom, director of independent consulting group Transportation Research Corp., said the ramp could have larger signs, a stoplight at the top or pavement grooves that make a noise to warn drivers to slow down.
"The fact that this ramp went almost parallel with the main line (of the interstate) was a confusing factor," Hanscom said. "Drivers normally expect ramps to go to the right and not the left."
Cards and letters to Mr. Berta can be sent to Grady Memorial Hospital, 80 Jesse Hill Jr. Dr., Atlanta, Ga., 30303, Surgical ICU, 7L South, Room 7L 15.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Ida family ‘in awe' of overwhelming support
Tim Berta, the Ida graduate who was injured in a bus accident in Atlanta Friday, remains listed in critical but stable condition at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
He was a passenger on a charter bus carrying the Bluffton University baseball team that crashed early Friday morning. Jimmy McMonagle, also of Ida, was on the bus but was not injured. Six people died in the crash - four students, the driver of the bus and his wife.
Mr. Berta, 22, was thrown from the bus after it struck the side of an overpass and plunged to the expressway. He suffered head trauma, broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade and bruised lungs. His spleen was removed along with a blood clot on the outside of his brain.
"He's still critical, but there has been some improvement so we're encouraged," said his father, Rob Berta. "The left side of his body took the brunt of the blow. All of his ribs were broken."
Mr. Berta is on a respirator, but his father said it has been decreased and his son's lungs have begun working in a minor capacity.
"That's a good sign, but the doctors told us we're not out of the woods. They told us to be prepared for setbacks,'' Mr. Berta said.
He said the family has been overwhelmed by the support from the Atlanta community and others. The East Tennessee State University softball team, playing in a tournament in Georgia, stopped at the hospital.
"They all signed a card and came to see the boys. They said they had seen our story on TV and just wanted to tell us they were thinking of us," Mr. Berta said. "We're in awe by what we have witnessed. It gives you faith in people again."
Many of the Bluffton players and family returned to Ohio Sunday.
Jon Betts stepped off a charter flight wearing the same baseball cap that his son wore when he died.
Since the accident, Mr. Betts said, he has spent a lot of time telling the players who came away with only minor injuries that "it was okay that they survived."
About 30 people walked off Sunday's flight - one player limping, another with his arm in a sling - and greeted those waiting on the tarmac at Toledo Express Airport with hugs. A hearse drove to the back of the plane to transport two players' bodies.
"He died doing what he loved and who he enjoyed being with," Jon Betts said of his son, David, a sophomore. "That's all that is important to us."
Also killed in Friday's crash were sophomore outfielder Tyler Williams of Lima; Scott Harmon, a freshman from Lima; and Cody Holp, a freshman from Arcanum. The driver and his wife, Jerome and Jean Niemeyer, also died.
The team from the Mennonite-affiliated university was traveling to its annual spring training in Florida when the charter bus crashed before daybreak. The bus was carrying 35 student-athletes, coaches and bus drivers. The 1,200-student school will be closed this week for spring break.
Investigators said the driver apparently mistook an exit ramp for a regular lane, and the bus crashed into a barrier at a T-shaped intersection and plummeted off the overpass onto the highway below.
On Sunday, investigators interviewed two players and a coach who were recovering from injuries.
One player said he had seen nothing unusual up until the time of the accident, and the driver was not talking on a cell phone or radio, said Kitty Higgins, who is leading the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation.
There are tire marks at the scene, but they do not suggest the driver slammed on his brakes, Higgins said. The bus showed no mechanical problems.
Georgia transportation officials said Sunday they had no immediate plans to close or add safety signs to the highway exit ramp where the bus crashed.
The state Department of Transportation wants to see recommendations from the NTSB before adding any new safety devices such as signs or stoplights to the I-75 ramp, spokesman David Spear said.
"We won't wait until their final published report. If during the course of their conversations it might make this better, we're going to act on it," he said.
There are two "Prepare to Stop" signs on the ramp, which exits off the left lane, and the same words are painted on the ramp itself, Spear said. The NTSB has said that the accident site has had numerous crashes and can be difficult for drivers to navigate.
Fred Hanscom, director of independent consulting group Transportation Research Corp., said the ramp could have larger signs, a stoplight at the top or pavement grooves that make a noise to warn drivers to slow down.
"The fact that this ramp went almost parallel with the main line (of the interstate) was a confusing factor," Hanscom said. "Drivers normally expect ramps to go to the right and not the left."
Cards and letters to Mr. Berta can be sent to Grady Memorial Hospital, 80 Jesse Hill Jr. Dr., Atlanta, Ga., 30303, Surgical ICU, 7L South, Room 7L 15.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.