Elissa Collopy
eac001@marietta.edu
Senior Cameron Smith was riding his motorcycle on Saturday, Oct. 25 when a car struck him and shattered his leg. The accident occurred at the intersection of Third and Butler Streets.
The driver of the vehicle was arrested and charged with driving under suspension, hit skip, failure to yield turning left and aggravated vehicular assault, a second-degree felony, according to the Marietta Police Department.
Smith was transported to Marietta Memorial Hospital, then flown to Grant Medical Center in Columbus for surgery for a shattered femur, fibula and tibia.
Senior Calvin Sellwood witnessed the accident.
“It was a very shocking experience watching the accident—I was scared for Cameron and didn’t know what exactly was going on,” Sellwood said.
In light of this incident, Pinkston is in the process of creating a fundraising event for Smith.
“I thought it’d be nice to do something and show support,” senior Whitnie Pinkston said. “I just want to bring awareness to this issue.”
Pinkston listed her ideas as a 5k, a bike trail ride, a poker run or 50/50 tickets at sporting events.
“I just want to do something that makes more people my age aware that reckless and drunk driving is more serious than they think it is,” Pinkston said. “It’s more about the school coming together to help someone—maybe others will come and show support for more than just Cameron, to bring awareness of incidences that affected their families.”
Sellwood supports the idea of a fundraiser.
“I think it’s a great idea to put on a fundraiser for Cameron,” Sellwood said. “It will bring the community together and shows we are thinking of and praying for him.”
Smith is thankful for all of the support he has received from the Marietta College community.
“Students and staff have been visiting nearly every day,” Smith said. “People have sent tons of cards, candy and other gifts to keep my mind off of everything, so that has been really nice, too.”
Money received in the fundraiser will be given to Smith’s family for medical costs post-surgeries. Final plans for a fundraiser will be released later this month.
Smith will have to undergo physical therapy after being released from the hospital, but said he hopes to be back at school “in the next few weeks.”
