CHERAW, S.C. — Classmates and community members are rallying around a Cheraw High School cheerleader who suffered serious injuries when her car hit a stopped garbage truck last week.
Purple-clad students gathered last Friday in the Cheraw High gym to pray for 17-year-old senior Lindsey Griggs. The Braves cheerleader was on her way to school when the wreck happened at 7:45 a.m. Nov. 11.
Griggs was driving a 2009 Nissan Sentra and traveling east on S.C. 9 a mile west of Cheraw near Four Mile Loop, said Lance Cpl. Gary Miller of the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Her car struck an eastbound 1999 Mack truck from the rear.
The trash truck was legally parked for garbage collection at the time of the wreck, Miller said. Its driver, Brett Cleveland Stevens of Polkton, N.C., was on the roadside picking up trash and was not injured.
Troopers said Griggs was wearing her seat belt. First responders extricated her from the car and she was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., for trauma care.
Miller said he was not aware of Griggs’ current condition.
The Cheraw Braves family is working to raise money for parents Pam and Michael Griggs to help with medical bills and other expenses they may incur during their daughter’s recovery.
An online crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe.com states that the wreck left Griggs with life-threatening injuries.
“Lindsey is a sweet, bubbly and quiet little lady with an infectious smile,” the GoFundMe page states. “Everyone around here just loves and care for her so much. Her parents, Pam and Michael Griggs, will be out of work for a while to be by their daughter’s side.
Although life stops us in our tracks, (that) does not mean that the bills will stop rolling in. So on behalf of the family, the community is asking everyone to please donate what you can. The funds will be used for medical bills, gas for the family to travel back and forth to the hospital and any other expense that may come about.”
A container for cash donations has been placed at Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes and Fries in the Walmart shopping center on State Road.
Reach Cheraw Chronicle reporter Maria D. Grandy at 843-537-5261.