Some information provided by Carthage Courier staff writer Eddie West
Mark Shrum, a teacher and an assistant football coach at Macon County High School, a TBI agent and Shrum's daughter were injured in a motorcycle accident which occurred on Pleasant Shade Highway Friday evening.
The accident was reported at 490 Pleasant Shade Highway or State Highway 80 in the Graveltown community, just south of the Pleasant Shade community at 6 p.m.
TBI Agent Russell (Russ) Winkler, 36, Carthage, and a female passenger, Dana Shrum, 22, Lafayette, were airlifted by LifeForce to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.
Winkler, driver of the 2003 Suzuki, was attempting to negotiate a sharp curve when the accident occurred.
"Winkler was traveling north on Highway 80 when he failed to negotiate a curve, running onto a rock wall and traveling down the rock wall into a ravine," according to Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Brian Raymonds.
Winkler was believed to have suffered several broken bones and internal injuries in the accident.
Shrum's injuries were believed to be less serious in nature.
Shrum, the driver of a second motorcycle, crashed while attempting to find out what had happened to Winkler and his daughter.
The two men had reportedly been traveling side by side when Shrum noticed Winkler was no longer next to him, according to Trooper Raymond's report.
When Shrum turned to see where Winkler's motorcycle was, he dipped the handle bar on his motorcycle resulting in his 2002 Harley Davidson falling onto its side, according to Trooper Raymond's report. The motorcycle then came back on its wheels and traveled into a ditch.
Shrum was not seriously injured and was not transported by the ambulance service.
Winkler and Dana Shrum were transported by Smith County Ambulance Service to LifeForce which landed in a field at 715 Pleasant Shade Highway near Sloan Branch Road, north of the accident site.
LifeForce is an ambulance headquartered in Sparta and is part of Chattanooga's Erlanger Hospital operation.
Winkler was assigned as TBI agent covering the Fifteenth Judicial District after TBI Agent Jason Locke transferred to another district.
In an interview Tuesday, Mark Shrum stated, "We were riding down Highway 80, I was in front of Russ. Dana, my daughter, was riding with Russ. I went around a curve and looked back at them. Russ just didn't make the curve and went off the road. This threw Dana up and in the air six or seven feet, then Russ hit a culvert."
Shrum continued by saying, "I panicked, hit my brakes and wrecked my motorcycle. When I quit rolling, I ran back to Russ and Dana. Russ looked bad, but emergency medical staff did a good job."
According to Mark, Russ is in a private room and is no longer in a life threatening condition.
"I hate this happened," Shrum said. "Russ is the lead TBI investigator in the death of the two Wilson County officers and I heard on the news that the hearing had to be postponed because of the accident. I've ridden motorcycles for years and this is the first time I've had an accident." Mark is expected to return to work this week.
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