Marshall Public School Board of Education President Vic Potter remained in critical, but stable condition late Friday after being struck by a vehicle Wednesday in the northbound lanes of I-69 near the Calhoun/Eaton County line.
Potter, 55, who owns Bud’s Towing in Marshall, was in the process of hooking up an accident vehicle Wednesday when he was struck by a car that had spun out of control on the icy interstate.
Potter was taken by ambulance to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo.
Potter’s wife Sandra, said Friday that her husband was “doing better” but was still “not out of the woods.”
She wanted to inform the community of her husband’s condition because she knows how many people are concerned, as evidence by the “hundreds” of phone calls she has received.
“I’m just exhausted.” she said.
Sandra Potter said that her husband suffered a broken left femur and broke his pelvis in three different places and broke nine ribs on his left side and two ribs on his right side and also suffered a collapsed lung.
As of Friday morning, Potter was on life support, but Sandra Potter said that he was scheduled to come off the ventilator by the end of the day.
“They’re planning to put a tracheotomy tube in his throat,” she said. “They started feeding him Thursday in a feeding tube in his throat, but that will be moved to his stomach.”
Potter underwent leg surgery Thursday and Sandra Potter said the operation went “fabulous.”
“The doctors said that he could have been in there three to eight hours, but it took just two and a half hours,” she said. “That was very, very good.”
Sandra Potter said that the surgery went as smoothly as it did because of her husband’s good health.
“He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke,” she said. “He has good bones.”
Following surgery, Sandra Potter said that her husband opened his eyes after doctors called his name.
Just after noon on Wednesday, a two-car property damage accident took place on the northbound lanes of I-69, according to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office.
One of the accident vehicles along with a County Sheriff patrol car and Potter’s wrecker were on the left shoulder of the interstate when the second accident occurred.
“Traffic was merging into the driving lane (right lane) of northbound I-69 and there was a vehicle that was going approximately 50-55 miles-per-hour that lost control,” said Capt. Matt Saxton of the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. “The vehicle did a180 (spun around) and slid into the passing lane (left lane) and into the previously damaged vehicle where Potter was kneeling down towards the passenger-side front tire and hooking that up to the wrecker.”
Saxton said it was possible that due to the position and angle Potter was in while hooking up the vehicle, the car that hit him may not have been able to see him.
Saxton added that the accident is still under reconstruction and investigation and that criminal charges are still possible, but alcohol was not a factor.
Brian Miller, who works with Potter at Bud’s Towing, said Friday that Potter had “made some major steps.”
Miller added that he expects Potter to fight his way through his serious injuries.
“Vic’s too tough and ornery to go out like this,” he said. “He’s a tough old bird.”
Miller added that it was business as usual at the Bud’s, but it was a difficult time for all the workers.
“This has affected all of us,” he said. “ We just have to band together and get the job done.”
Board of Education Vice President Paul Beardslee said he went to see Potter Thursday and added that the board had Potter in their thoughts.
“We’re going to try and do what we can to be supportive of Vic and his family,” said Beardslee. “We’re praying for him.”
Sandra Potter said that despite her husband’s serious injuries, he was still concerned about others.
“When I got to Bronson, they said Vic needed to talk to me,” she said. “He wanted me to make sure the guys at the shop got a car taken to Jackson and another car to a local dealership. What Vic was most concerned about was getting his payroll out that day and he has those directions for me…He continued to do his job and worry about getting things done…Those were some of the things that said to me that Vic is going to overcome this.”
Sandra Potter said that those wanting to send get-well wishes to her husband can do so by utilizing Bronson’s ‘Caring Bridge’ web site where people can leave a message.
She said she has been appreciative by the outpouring of support from so many in the community.
“Everybody is offering to do something to help,” she said. “Right now, I don’t know what we need. I think what we need is privacy… We’re just going to take it day by day.”
