An April car accident that left three people injured has had an even more tragic outcome than anticipated. A long-time educator in Morgan County died last week, just a few months after he was badly injured in the head-on crash in Huntsville.

The former principal was driving on South Memorial Parkway on April 21 when his vehicle swerved into on-coming traffic and collided with another car. The driver and a 9-year-old passenger in the other car were injured. The former principal sustained critical injuries in the crash and remained in a coma until the end of June.

Witnesses had said he had been driving erratically that night, but the cause of the accident has not yet been determined. Authorities told reporters in June that they would not know if drugs or alcohol were involved until the toxicology report was completed. At that time, they expected the report would be done in October.

The 53-year-old had spent weeks in a Huntsville hospital by the time doctors transferred him to a long-term care facility outside of the city. It was there that he woke up from his coma. Shortly after he regained consciousness, his doctors said, he was able to talk; over the past few weeks, he had shown "dramatic improvement."

Friends and former students had tracked his progress on a Facebook page and were heartened by the recent changes in his condition. With the news of his death, the page began to fill with tributes and comments from the many people whose lives he had influenced over his career and his life.

Sources:

WHNT-TV, "Former Morgan County Principal Dies From Injuries in April Crash," Carson Clark, July 14, 2012

WAAY-TV, "Former Morgan County principal out of a coma," June 25, 2012