Spectator badly injured
Amateur rider hit rock embankment descending Brasstown Bald Mtn.
By JARED PUTNAM Union Sentinel Editor

Sentinel photo/Rainer Arnold EMS personnel place Thomas Kinnebrew in a Rescue Air Helicopter.

A Tour de Georgia spectator almost died Friday, suffering severe injuries after reportedly losing control of his bicycle and crashing into a rock embankment while descending Brasstown Bald Mountain.

Thomas Kinnebrew, 53, of Helena, Ark., was on life support and paralyzed from the waist down, after suffering a collapsed lung and serious injuries to his head and spine, despite the fact that he was wearing a helmet when he crashed.

EMS personnel from both Union and Towns County responded to the scene of the accident and performed CPR on the victim. Kinnebrew regained a pulse and was transported by ambulance to the parking lot on the mountain, where he was loaded into a Rescue Air helicopter.

Kinnebrew was last known to be in critical but stable condition at North Fulton Regional Hospital.

 

Rescue workers provide medical attention to the victim.