Saturday, March 27, 2010

Visually impaired man hit by a car dies of injuries

A visually impaired man who was struck by a car while walking to work last week has died, police said yesterday.

Kurt Vaughn Bellingrath, 57, was struck March 18 while walking from his apartment at Crowne Oaks to his job at Industries for the Blind off North Point Boulevard.

He died Thursday at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Bellingrath was crossing the street at the intersection at Bethabara Road and North Point Boulevard about 7:30 a.m.

Carolyn Mickey Adkins, 59, of King was driving west on North Point Boulevard when she came to the intersection and struck Bellingrath, according to a police report. No charges have been filed against Adkins.

Winston-Salem police Sgt. Keith Redmon said witnesses told police that Bellingrath was in the median and was crossing the street diagonally, not straight across.

Adkins had a green light when she came to the intersection, police said.

After being struck, Bellingrath was taken to Wake Forest Baptist.

His death was the third traffic fatality of the year.

Bellingrath moved here from New Jersey in April to take a job at the Industries for the Blind, said Annette Clinard, the director of work-force development.

Clinard said that Bellingrath was visually impaired but not completely blind.

He worked in the optical lab, where he made eyeglasses for veterans, Clinard said.

She said that Bellingrath enjoyed doing a job that made a difference in peoples' lives.

"He was very valued by all of us, and we are saddened by the whole situation," she said. "We cared about Kurt, and he did a good job for us."

pgarber@wsjournal.com | 727-7327

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home