Authorities say a medical emergency caused a head-on crash in Clermont Thursday morning that left a Blairsville man critically injured.
Hall County Sheriff's Office officials said wreck happened around 8:30 a.m. on Cleveland Highway (U.S. 129) just south of Hub Head Road. They said Martin Ehlers, age 75 of Blairsville, was going south on Cleveland Highway in a Kia Optima when he suffered a medical emergency and crossed the center line into the northbound lane.
He then hit a northbound Mack truck that was towing a trailer with a cherry picker on board. The collision caused the truck to go into the ditch.
Ehlers was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for treatment. At last report, he was listed in critical condition. The driver of the truck was not hurt.
The wreckage left Cleveland Highway closed intermittently for nearly eight hours, with officials not completely clearing the scene until almost 4:30 p.m. The scene was reportedly complicated by a fuel leak that was spotted after officials removed the Mack truck and cherry picker from the ditch.
