May 14, 2023 2:50 p.m. 

A driver was hospitalized after remaining in his vehicle for several hours after a wreck early Friday morning.

An Oregon State Police report said just before 4:50 a.m. a crash occurred on Highway 38 in the Elkton area. An eastbound sedan left the roadway for unknown reasons. The vehicle struck a ramp-like portion of a dirt embankment, sending it airborne. While in the air, the sedan hit a steel utility pole approximately thirty feet above the ground.

The report said the vehicle continued and landed approximately one-hundred twenty-five feet below the highway. It landed on the driver’s side and held in place by active power lines. The driver, the sole occupant of the sedan, remained injured in the vehicle until utility workers were able to halt the power.

The driver, an 18-year old man from Vancouver, Washington, was extricated and transported to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend in Springfield for serious facial injuries. The sedan was towed from the scene.