Officer injured in fiery crash returns to work, man awarded for helping save her life
By Kari Barrows
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MARION, North Caolina (WLOS) — A Marion police officer who spent months recovering from a serious crash has returned to work.
The Marion Police Department announced on July 7 that Officer Breanna Toney had returned to “light duty” after being injured in a fiery crash on Jan. 31.
“Through her hard work and determination, returning to light duty is a big step toward her getting back to work full time,” the department wrote in a social media post. “We are happy to have her back.”
Officials said Officer Toney had been injured in a crash that happened just before 6:15 a.m. in Mitchell County along NC 226 in January when a pickup truck hit her patrol vehicle head-on, causing it to burst into flames. Both Toney and the other driver were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
The driver of the pickup truck was charged with driving left of center. EMS on scene said the driver of the pickup “was possibly left of center due to a medical condition,” NCSHP told News 13.
The Marion Police Department have also awarded a man for helping save Officer Toney’s life during the crash. The department says during the January crash, the door on the patrol car had become wedged shut and as “Officer Toney struggled to free herself, the vehicle door was torn open by another motorist who stopped to help and pulled her from the burning car.” At the Marion City Council meeting on June 21, Trevor Self was recognized and presented with a Life Saving Award for his “heroic lifesaving efforts.”
“Our Agency and City will be forever grateful for his efforts on that day,” the department wrote on Facebook.
While hospitalized in Johnson City, Tennessee, and afterward, the community rallied around Officer Toney with several fundraisers to help her family.
“The community support that we have here in this community is second-to-none,” Marion Police Chief Allen Lawrence said in February.
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