The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 09, 2005, Page 5, Image 5
Questions haunt N. C. town where man was prematurely declared dead
By ALLEN G. BREED
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
INGLESIDE, N.C. — Larry Green
stepped out of the darkness so suddenly
that the car that hit him didn’t even
leave skid marks. The impact sent his
shoes, socks and the unopened beer in
his hand flying.
Green came to rest on U.S. 401
alongside a trash-strewn ditch, where he
was examined by paramedics and
declared dead.
Over the next 2 1/2 hours, the
bloody body with a gaping head wound
was zipped into a black vinyl bag, taken
to the morgue and slid into a stainless
steel refrigerated drawer.
There was just one problem: Green
was alive.
Two weeks after that shocking
discovery, the 29-year-old Green clings
to life in a hospital intensive care unit,
paralyzed.
Anguished family members have
listened in horror as officials described
the many missed signs and miscues that
led to the error. They and others in this
rural tobacco community northeast of
Raleigh are left to wonder how
something like this could have happened
— and whether it has happened before.
“Something ain’t right with that,”
said T.J. Henderson, a high school
classmate of Green’s. “I thought they
were supposed to try to give mouth to
mouth or the shock at least till they got
to the emergency room. That’s where I
thought you were pronounced dead at,
not on the scene. ... Not on the street.”
On the chilly night of Jan. 24, Green
and a pair of friends showed up at the
Ingleside Grocery about 8:45 p.m. to
pick up a few tail-boy cans of Natural
Ice to take back to his trailer down the
road. Green never made it.
According to reports from state
troopers and the Franklin County
attorney’s office, 36-year-old Tamuel
Jackson did not have time to stop her car
before it slammed into Green as he tried
to cross the highway in front of his
trailer.
Randy Kearney, an off-duty
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described passion for change, something
he said the Palmetto State lacks, but
which he is calling for.
Robbs said the primary focus of his
campaign is tuition cost, which he
claims is rising too high and should be a
primary concern of students.
“The main thing on my platform is
tuition,” Robbs said. “And I have
noticed a significant rise in it. If you go
to the governor’s website he is proposing
a statewide cap on tuition, which is a
great idea.”
Robbs added that because of
exorbitant tuition costs, students are
being treated worse financially than
convicted criminals. He said South
Carolina spends more money per day on
inmates than students attending USC.
“Those people behind bars are
getting better treatment than you are
financially,” Robbs said. “They are
getting more money a day than 1 do, and
I am following the law.”
Robbs, who was released from a local
hospital on Saturday after battling an
upper respiratory infection, said he was
energized by the “fumes” of the
campaign trail, but that he wasn’t riding
a proverbial high-horse either.
“I am not on some power trip, that is
not what I am saying,” Robbs said. “I
know the power is limited, but the
paramedic, was on the scene at 8:54
p.m. and found no pulse or sign of
breathing. Blood had formed a foot
wide corona around Green’s skull.
When county paramedics Paul
Kilmer and Katherine Lamell arrived
moments later, Kearney told them
Green was dead, but asked Kilmer to
double-check. Kilmer replied that his
determination was “good enough for
me,” according to Kearney and two
firefighters. Kilmer told officials he
could not remember saying that, but
doesn’t deny it.
By the time paramedic Pamela Hayes
arrived at 9 p.m., Green was covered by
a white sheet.
Although the law does not require
the medical examiner to go to accident
scenes, Dr. J. B. Perdue showed up half
an hour later and began examining the
body, lifting and twisting Green’s
broken right leg, rolling him over and
inserting a gloved finger into the gash in
Green’s head.
“That’s more than I need to see!”
Lamell shouted.
When Perdue opened Green’s jacket,
several firefighters holding a tarp to
shield the body from onlookers noticed
what appeared to be an in-and-out
movement in Green’s chest and
abdomen.
“Doc, is he breathing?” the
firefighters heard Kearney ask. Perdue
told Kearney that it was just air escaping
or moving around inside the body.
Paramedics put Green in a body bag
and drove him to the morgue in nearby
Louisburg. There, Perdue examined the
body a second time. He took a blood
sample, lifted Green’s eyelids and sniffed
around the man’s mouth for alcohol.
Hayes, who had accompanied the
body, thought she noticed twitching in
Green’s right eyelid. She asked Perdue if
he was sure Green was really dead. Perdue
responded that the twitching was a spasm,
“like a frog leg jumping in a frying pan.”
“I don’t feel good about this,” Hayes
told colleagues, according to the county
attorney’s report. She asked Perdue
again if he was sure Green was dead. He
reassured her. The body bag was zipped
students at USC are like sleeping giants
and we can voice our opinion.”
Such power, Robbs said, would be
necessary for lowering Board of Trustee
mandated tuition at USC.
Ryan Holt
Feeling comfortable after the
“showing of a lot of good issues”
Tuesday and the support of two-dozen
student organizations, Holt said he is’
excited about finding out whether his
campaign annoyed people.
Holt said he has tried to distinguish
himself from his opponents by
concentrating on his previous work
experience in Student Government.
“The greatest reason I am right for
the job is because I am the only senator
on the ticket,” Holt said. “As said in the
Student Government Constitution, the
role of the vice president is to preside
over the senate.”
If elected, Holt said, his passion for
USC athletics would be evident. He said
he would create a larger Athletics
committee in the senate and place more
emphasis on school spirit, the “Vote for
Cocky” campaign and the
USC/Clemson lottery.
One idea was to raise funds for a
traveling legion of USC football fans to
away games, a task that Holt said has
received at least preliminary approval
from the football coach.
“I proposed the idea to Spurrier at a
breakfast earlier this week and he seemed
back up, and Green was placed in the
portable morgue unit, where the
temperature is kept a few degrees above
freezing.
Green probably would have remained
in the stainless-steel container had state
Trooper Tyrone Hunt not arrived
around 11:20 p.m. and asked Perdue to
help him determine the direction from
which Green had been struck.
This time, Perdue observed slight
movement. He could not find a pulse in
Green’s neck, thigh or wrist, even with a
stethoscope. Perdue summoned
paramedics and an electrocardiogram,
which was able to pick up a faint heart
rhythm.
Family members who have kept vigil
at Green’s bedside say his eyes flutter at
times and he shows signs he recognizes
those around him. It is unclear whether
his paralysis is from the accident, or the
handling of his body afterward.
Within days, Kearney, Kilmer, Hayes
and Lamell were all suspended with pay.
The state’s Office of Emergency Medical
Services suspended Kearney’s and
Kilmer’s credentials, citing “a lack of
competence . to practice with a
reasonable degree of skill and safety.”
Kearney and Kilmer were fired;
Hayes and Lamell were ordered to
undergo remedial training before
coming back to work. Kearney declined
an Associated Press request for
comment, and the others did not
respond to messages.
Dr. John Butts, the state’s chief
medical examiner, said that Perdue did
everything the law required of him and
that there are no plans to censure the 34
year veteran.
“He went because he was informed
that a man was dead as a result of
violence or trauma,” Butts said. “He did
not come with a doctor’s bag and a
stethoscope. He came with a pencil and
paper to get information.”
Perdue told the AP: “I am not in any
shape form or fashion responsible for
pronouncement of death. ... Obviously,
I’m in sympathy with the family. My
heart goes out to them, and my prayers
are that this person recovers.”
interested,” Holt said. “But maybe he
just wanted to finish his breakfast.”
Holt said the biggest two issues on
his platform are identity security and
improving communication between
students. He said the communication
issue can be solved by tweaking an
existing USC system.
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GERRY BROOME/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
This is the scene along U.S. 401 last Friday in Ingleside, N.C., where Larry Green was struck by a
vehicle in front of his trailer and prematurely declared dead on Jan. 24.
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