A 76-year-old patient being transported by ambulance in Martin County died early Sunday after the vehicle veered off N.C. 11 and overturned multiple times near Council Road, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. An on-duty nurse riding in the back was hurt, and troopers have since charged the ambulance's driver with a misdemeanor in connection with the fatal crash.
Troopers responded to the crash at roughly 1:49 a.m. Sunday, according to NCSHP findings as reported by WCTI. The ambulance, operated by ECU Health's EastCare medical transport service, was heading south on N.C. 11 when it left the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch culvert, sending the vehicle into a series of rollovers before it came to rest partially blocking the road.
The patient, identified as 76-year-old John Foriest, was pronounced dead at the scene after sustaining fatal injuries, per the state troopers' account. Emma Pridgen, the on-duty nurse riding in the rear patient compartment, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and received medical treatment, the station's report states.
Driver Faces Misdemeanor Death by Vehicle Charge
Troopers charged the ambulance's driver, 29-year-old Lauren Nicole McFadden, with misdemeanor death by vehicle following the crash. Under North Carolina General Statute § 20-141.4(a2), that charge applies when a fatal crash stems from an underlying traffic violation that does not involve impairment, as explained by the Powers Law Firm. The offense is classified as a Class A1 misdemeanor, the state's most serious misdemeanor category, carrying potential penalties of up to 150 days in jail along with community or intermediate probation, according to the Patrick Roberts Law Blog.
The crash remains under investigation by the state Highway Patrol, and exactly what caused McFadden's ambulance to leave the roadway before striking the culvert has not been detailed publicly.
A Vital Regional Transport Network
EastCare, the ECU Health service involved in the crash, has operated in Eastern North Carolina since 1985 and now runs a critical care transport network spanning 31 counties with 28 ground ambulances, seven aircraft, and eight regional bases, per the service's own history. The agency marked its 40th anniversary last year, having grown from a single helicopter into the region's dominant medical transport system. Its ground and air units typically funnel patients toward ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville, which houses the only Level I Trauma Center in North Carolina east of Raleigh.
N.C. 11 itself is a major north-south corridor through rural Eastern North Carolina, linking Pitt County and Greenville northward through Martin County, according to state transportation planning documents. Rural routes like it often feature unpaved shoulders and deep drainage ditches, terrain consistent with the culvert strike described in the crash.
Part of a Troubling Pattern on State Highways
Sunday's crash happened during the Labor Day holiday weekend, when the North Carolina State Highway Patrol was also responding to multiple other fatal collisions across Eastern North Carolina highways. It is also not the only fatal ambulance rollover in the state this year — Hoodline previously reported that a Gaston County ambulance flipped fatally on U.S. 74 east of Interstate 85 in July, shutting down that highway for hours.
National data adds context to how often these crashes turn deadly. A 2023 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study covering 2012 through 2018 found that ground ambulance crashes across the country averaged 28.4 fatalities annually across 173 fatal crashes, with 34.2% of those killed being occupants riding inside the ambulance itself, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. The same research found driver error was a factor in 92.6% of investigated fatal ambulance crashes, and while 95.7% of patients were restrained in some manner, only 17.4% were secured with both lateral belts and shoulder harnesses.
