By Donna Hales
A Watts teenager remained hospitalized Wednesday after her vehicle ran off an Adair County road and rolled over.
Charlesa Hartshorne, 17, of Watts, is hospitalized at Northwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Springdale, Ark., with a broken back, her mother, Brenda Hartshorne said.
Charlesa was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt when she ran off the road Tuesday, overcorrected and crossed the road before striking a ditch and rolling over.
The vehicle came to rest on its top, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. The accident occurred at 4:06 p.m.
Charlesa Hartshorne is the daughter of former Adair County Sheriff Charles Hartshorne and Brenda Hartshorne.
She was flown to Northwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center where she was admitted with head and trunk internal injuries, the OHP said. Brenda Hartshorne said Wednesday afternoon that she was waiting to find out if her daughter required surgery.
“Technically, she broke her back,” Hartshorne said. “The doctor said she had a fractured or compressed vertebrae that was almost touching her spine.
“She’s in terrible pain, but she’s going to be all right.”
Charles Hartshorne is working in Iraq.
“He’s trying to decide whether to just get on a plane and come home,” his wife said.
Charlesa Hartshorne is a senior at Westville High School, her mother said.
The cause of the collision was unsafe speed on a curve, the OHP report said. Hartshorne’s seat belt was in use. Her vehicle was equipped with an airbag that did not deploy. The two-lane county road where the accident occurred was 3.9 miles north and 4.3 miles west of Westville, the OHP said.
