Staff Report
The Knoxville News-Sentinel
KINGSTON, Tenn. — A fund has been established to help defray medical costs for a Roane County firefighter seriously injured last week in a freak traffic collision with a horse.
Caleb Wilson, 18, has been taken off a ventilator but remained in a medically induced coma Tuesday at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, said Capt. Andrew Murray of the East Roane County Volunteer Fire Department.
Wilson, a volunteer firefighter and senior at Roane County High School, was southbound on state Highway 58 in Kingston when he collided with a fullgrown horse that stepped in front of his vehicle Jan. 10.
The horse was killed and Wilson was flown to the hospital.
Although still in a coma, Wilson is responding to familiar voices and has some movement in his limbs, Murray said. Swelling on Wilson’s brain has subsided and he underwent surgery Sunday for a broken jaw, the fire captain said.
“We don’t have a completely clear picture of whether he suffered brain damage,” Murray said.
“He’s got a long way to go.”
Donations to help cover the cost of medical expenses and physical therapy may be made to the “Caleb Wilson Fund” at any branch of Enrichment Federal Credit Union.
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