SEQUIM — An elderly Tacoma man was listed in serious condition Thursday at a Seattle hospital after he was hurt Wednesday in a three-vehicle Sequim-area collision.
Jack Sweeney, 86, was flown to Harborview Medical Center after the approximately 2:45 p.m. Wednesday crash at the intersection of Kitchen-Dick Road and Old Olympic Highway, authorities said.
He sustained life-threatening injuries, Assistant Chief Tony Hudson of Clallam County Fire District 3 said Wednesday.
A Harborview spokeswoman said Thursday that Sweeney was in serious condition.
A second man, Gary Gauthin, 71, of Sequim, was transported to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles with non-life-threatening injuries, Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Yarnes said Thursday.
Gauthin was treated and discharged, an OMC spokesman said Thursday afternoon.
A third man, Jason Stanger, 37, of Port Angeles, was evaluated at the scene and discharged without transport to a hospital.
The chain of events that led to the collision was unknown as of Thursday morning, Yarnes said. The wreck remained under investigation.
“They are still looking into it and talking to people,” he said.
“There were witnesses at the scene that were helping.”
After the collision, a white 1970s Ford pickup truck, a tan late model Mercury sedan and a gray late model Toyota SUV came to rest in the grass on the northwest corner of the intersection.
The Mercury, driven by Sweeney, was wedged between the Ford and Toyota, the latter of which had flipped over onto its roof.
Sweeney was trapped inside his vehicle and was extricated by Clallam County Fire District 3 firefighters with help from Jaws of Life apparatus and other tools, authorities said.
Sweeney was taken via ambulance to Sequim Valley Airport, where he was loaded onto a rescue helicopter and flown to Seattle, authorities said.
Gauthin, who was treated and discharged at OMC, was driving the Toyota. Stanger was driving the Ford.
About 10 firefighters — along with State Patrol troopers, sheriff’s deputies and officers with the Sequim Police Department — responded to the wreck.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel contributed to this report.
