3-year-old thrown from car after escaping car seat as grandma drove west of Sunnyside
.JPG "Yakima County deputies responded to a crash south of Wapato where a 3-year-old was thrown from a car.")
A 3-year-old suffered a serious head injury after being thrown from a car in a crash in the Yakima Valley.
Misty Morrison, 43, of Hermiston, Ore., was heading west in a Ford Fusion on Branch Road south of Wapato about 1 p.m. Thursday.
In the backseat were her 1-year-old and 3-year-old grandchildren, said the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office.
The 3-year-old boy had worked the buckle of his seat loose and Morrison was trying to fasten him in again, when she missed a stop sign at Wapato Road.
The Fusion’s rear passenger door was hit by a northbound Dodge Dart, and shoved Morrison’s car into a power pole.
Her car flipped and the boy was thrown through the back window. He landed about 25 feet from the car, said sheriff’s officials.
Wapato police, Yakima deputies and Yakima County Fire District 5 crews were called to the scene and found the boy.
Morrison and her grandkids were taken to Yakima Memorial Hospital, and then the 3-year-old was taken to Haborview Medical Center in Seattle.
As of Friday morning, the boy was awake and responding to his parents who were with him, said sheriff’s officials. The child was listed in stable condition.
The other driver, Jesus Rodriguez-Salcedo, suffered minor cuts to his arm and was not hospitalized.
This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 4:17 PM.