S.C. House Candidate Arrington Out of ICU After Car Wreck
Democratic opponent Cunningham to resume suspended campaign
South Carolina 1st District Republican candidate Katie Arrington was moved out of intensive care unit after her car wreck last week as new information came to light about the crash.
Arrington was injured last week in a car wreck that led to a fracture in her back and broken ribs, among other injuries that required major surgery, her campaign said at the time.
Arrington defeated Rep. Mark Sanford in the Republican primary earlier this month, in which she received an endorsement from President Donald Trump on the afternoon of the vote.
Arrington’s Democratic opponent Joe Cunningham said he would resume campaigning after suspending his campaign last week, the Charleston Post and Courier reported.
“I am so thankful that Rep. Arrington is expected to make a full recovery,” he said on social media.
Arrington was moved from the ICU on Wednesday.
On Thursday, authorities released audio from the accident where one caller described how one car was “smashed in.”
“It’s one side. I’ve tried, we’ve tried that back door but it won’t open. The car is leaking gas everywhere,” one caller said.
Arrington and her friend Jacqueline Goff were injured in the head-on collision when a car driven by Helen White that was going the wrong way smashed into them, according to authorities.
White died at the scene and is believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run minutes before colliding with the car Arrington was in.
The Post and Courier also obtained a driving record which showed White was involved in a hit-and-run in 2016 and a negligent driving charge in 1995. Authorities said there were no signs that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the wreck.
Goff, who was visiting from Louisiana, and Arrington were on their way to Hilton Head where Arrington was to receive an award the next morning.