A driver was injured during a Saturday night race at Speedway 95 in Hermon and needed to be transported to the hospital.
Cameron Childs was injured during a Street Stocks race at the Hermon raceway and transported to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor via ambulance, according to track manager and race director Shawn Ryder.
Ryder is also an EMT and a member of the Hermon Volunteer Rescue and First Aid Squad Inc. that tended to Childs.
Ryder said Childs was able to communicate with them and move his extremities while in the ambulance.
Childs had been driving on the upper part of the track when he seemed to lose control of the car. It sailed up and over the embankment on turn one and landed on its roof.
“He said his throttle stuck wide open,” Ryder said.
When that happens, it can lead to uncontrollable high RPMs and a dangerous driving situation based on how fast the engine is spinning.
Child sustained two torn ligaments at his C1 vertebrae at the top of his neck, C1 and C5 fractures to his spine, and a severed artery, according to a page set up to benefit him on the fundraising platform Spotfund
“After looking at the MRI doc said he had a guardian angel looking over him and he doesn’t know how he is alive or not paralyzed,” according to the fundraising page, which said Childs had been admitted to the ICU and had raised around $800 of its $5,000 goal as of Monday evening.
Childs’ hometown is Wales, Maine, and he was driving the 8H car on Saturday, according to race information from the speedway. He was racing a borrowed car, according to the fundraising page.
Speedway 95 expressed support for Childs and his family on Sunday.
“On behalf of Speedway 95 and the entire staff, we would like to let Cam Childs and his family know we are thinking of you and we hope you have a speedy recovery!” the race track said in a Facebook post.
