Community prays for Pulaski teens badly injured in crash. Demand for stoplight grows

Pulaski County residents and businesses sought and offered prayers for a pair of recent graduates hospitalized in Lexington after they were badly injured in a car crash.

Businesses and organizations like Chick-fil-A, Cornerstone Baptist Church, Campbellsville University-Somerset and Mellow Mushroom have put out signs and posted on social media in support of Carlee Whitis and Ethan Carter, both 19.

Carter was driving a 2016 Honda Accord, with his girlfriend, Whitis, in the passenger seat, on July 7 when he pulled into oncoming traffic at the U.S. 27 and Ky. 70 intersection and crashed into a 2008 Chevrolet Uplander minivan traveling north on U.S. 27, according to WKYT, the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner. The Uplander was driven by 28-year-old Justin Wilson, WKYT reported.

Carter and Whitis were flown to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital with serious injuries, WKYT reported. Pulaski County authorities were investigating the accident.

“We are praying everyday for a miracle,” Priscilla Coomer posted on Facebook.

Whitis’ mother, Dana Whitis, posted on her Facebook Friday that Carlee had “pupil movement ... when the nurse checked her” and was chewing on her breathing tube.

Dana Whitis posted a video of Carlee singing during a church service, adding the comment, “Listen to the words of this song! God is going to move mountains, and yes, my God is big enough to do that.”

On Sunday, Carter’s father, Doug Carter, posted on Facebook that Ethan was “off the ventilator, he has drain tubes removed, his bleeding has stopped.”

On Facebook, Dana Whitis promoted a petition on Change.org to put a traffic light at the intersection of U.S. 27 and Ky. 70, where the accident occurred. As of Monday, the petition has 7,427 signatures.

According to the Commonwealth Journal, Eubank mayor Eddie Hicks agrees with the calls for a traffic light. “It’s a doggone mess, to tell you the truth. I would love to see a light go in there and just see if it would work,” Hicks told the Commonwealth Journal.

However, he told the Commonwealth Journal that since U.S. 27 is a state road, the final decision has to come from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Meanwhile, family members and others continue to show their love for the couple.

Carlee Whitis’ brother Jeremiah Whitis was “playing for sissy” in a Richmond, Ky., golf tournament, writing “Carlee” on his golf ball, Dana Whitis said Tuesday on Facebook.

This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 3:38 PM.