GA Grandfather Killed In Crash While Helping Grandson

OCONEE COUNTY, GA — A grandfather assisting his teenage grandson with a car on the side of the road is dead after authorities say an ambulance smashed into the car, leaving the pair trapped under the ambulance in Oconee County.

The Georgia State Patrol said the fatal three-vehicle crash happened around 10 p.m. Sunday on Atlanta Highway, east of Whitehead Road.

A white Toyota Camry was broken down in the westbound lane on Atlanta when Monroe resident John Carter Martin stopped to help the driver of the Camry.

Martin, who was driving a maroon Ford F-150, parked his pickup in front of the Camry and faced it east in the westbound lane, GSP said.

The drivers were standing outside their vehicles, working on the Camry, when a Northeast Georgia Medical Center ambulance hit the back of the Camry, GSP said.

The impact from the crash forced all three vehicles onto the north shoulder of the road, and Martin and the Camry's driver were pinned underneath the ambulance, GSP said.

Martin died of his injuries at the scene, and the driver who was seriously injured was taken to Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, GSP said.

Troopers did not identify the Camry's driver, but Jennifer Martinez told WAGA-TV he was her 17-year-old son and Martin was her father.

The boy, a junior at Winder-Barrow High School, "suffered internal bleeding, a broken left clavicle and multiple lacerations," the report stated. He was transferred to Arthur M. Blank Children's Hospital for surgery.

Martinez told WAGA-TV that Martin "was a great man."

GSP said charges are pending the outcome of an investigation.