Two are injured in recent crashes

 A three-year-old child was injured when the pickup truck her mother was driving left the roadway on Thursday.
A three-year-old child was injured when the pickup truck her mother was driving left the roadway on Thursday.

— A three-year-old Gentry child underwent surgery at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock last Thursday after she was injured in a one-vehicle accident south of Gravette.

Bryna Welch was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by her mother, Kelly Welch, 26, also of Gentry, when the vehicle left the road about 10 a.m.

The child was taken by Gravette ambulance to Ozarks Community Hospital in Gravette and laterwas air-evacuated to the Little Rock facility.

According to an OHC spokesperson, the child is recovering following the emergency surgery.

According to Arkansas State Trooper Jesse Woodham, the southbound vehicle left the road and traveled in a ditch more than 450 yards before knocking down a traffic sign and crossing the road. The pickup truck came to rest against a tree and was facing north.

The accident occurred about one-fourth mile south of the Spavinaw Creek bridge on Arkansas Highway 59.

In a second crash on Friday afternoon in Bella Vista, on Rogers Rd. near the Highlands Rehab Center, Larry Holloway, of Hiwasse, was injured when his motorcycle apparently collided with a pickup truck which left the scene.

Holloway is a patient at St. John's Hospital in Tulsa, awaiting surgery.

No information on the accident was available from the Bella Vista Police Department, the Benton County Sheriff's Office or the Arkansas State Police. No reports were on file, according to the above law enforcement agencies.

News, Pages 8 on 10/06/2010