An elderly Hampton woman, 86-year-old Stella Chappell, was fortunate to have received only minor injuries when the Mercury Mariner she was driving struck the median and then veered off of Georgia Highway 16 Thursday afternoon.

“Spalding County had just put a lookout on the car about two minutes before the wreck. The witness behind her said she wasn’t able to maintain the lane,” said Georgia State Patrol Senior Trooper Byron Mims, of the Georgia State Patrol Griffin Post. “I was down here at South McDonough and Highway 16 when I heard the lookout and it was only a minute or two later when I heard the call for the wreck.”

According to Mims, authorities believe a medical condition may have caused the accident.

“They think her blood sugar got too low. According to witnesses that were behind her, she was moving from one side of the road to the other before she left the roadway,” he said. “It appears she slowed down a lot before she hit the trees, so she didn’t get hurt a lot. But, I believe she’s going to be transported to Spalding Regional Medical Center.”

Mims said Chappell’s vehicle traveled approximately 300 feet after it left the road, going down a steep embankment in the process, before coming to a stop in the woods.

“She wasn’t able to get out because her door was wedged against a tree,” he said. “Then, they (first responders) had to help her up the hill - she didn’t want to go out on the stretcher.”