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Tennessee Bridge Victim

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Ryan Hixon was driving on I-75 in Chattanooga back to his home on April 1, 2019 when the unimaginable happened.  A bridge collapsed crushing his car and sending Ryan into trauma surgery at Erlanger Hospital.  While traumatic for any victim, this was especially hard on this family as he and his wife had just welcomed their first child, a baby girl, only ten days prior to the accident.  Family members rotated taking care of the baby, helping his wife, and staying with Ryan in Trauma ICU.  

The most tragic part of this accident is that it could have and should have been prevented.  A motorist called 911 on Friday afternoon, March 29 (three days prior to the accident) and reported that pieces of the bridge were falling and there were chunks of concrete in the road.  The bridge was NOT closed at that time and three days later, it finally collapsed.  The reports of the bridge inspection and photos indicate a tree that was growing out of one of the cracks in the beam.  This obviously stressed the crack enough that it finally gave way.  This accident clearly SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.

The story continues to worsen for the family when they learn that the State of Tennessee has a cap of $300,000 that an accident victim can receive.  The maximum cap is in no way guaranteed and could take a year to get paid any amount but should Ryan receive the full $300,000, this does not cover his medical expenses, lost wages now of five months, vehicle replacement or attorney fees necessary to file the claim.  

Ryan sustained critical injuries including a cracked sternum, he lost two feet of his intestines due to the severity of the bleeding, multiple cuts on  his hand and legs that required stitches, a fractured eye socket, and more.  After released, he continued to have double vision from his crushed eye socket and underwent a second surgery in June which has helped but he still has vision issues and is simply waiting to see if this clears and if not, there is one additional surgery to try.  Ryan underwent another emergency surgery on July 24, 2019.  There was substantial inflammation around his appendix which had to be removed which continues to add to the medical expenses.

Friends of Ryan would like to ask our community to at least match the State cap and stand behind him due to a government system that does not have to be responsible to do the right thing when they were at fault.  He will never recapture the time lost as a new father that could not hold his baby, the things he still cannot do around his home, and so many things that has changed his life forever.  

Thank you friends of Ryan, friends of this community and for the countless prayers and well wishes this family has received.

Organizer and beneficiary

Janet Lowery Gill
Organizer
Chattanooga, TN
Pat Troxell-Tant
Beneficiary

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