Four Milligan students remain hospitalized following crash

Four patients from the Milligan University bicycle team continued to be treated at the Johnson City Medical Center Friday, Ballad Health officials said. Three other patients have been discharged from the since all seven patients were transported to the trauma center, following a crash with a vehicle on Wednesday morning on U.S. Highway 19E near Simerly Creek Road in Carter County that killed two other members of the bicycle team, sophomores Hayland Engdahl and Brayden Rogers. Of the four patients currently hospitalized, two are being cared for in the Intensive Care Unit and remain in critical condition, Ballad said. Although their injuries are serious, they are not considered life-threatening. The other two patients are being treated in the medical-surgical unit and are in stable condition. Rebecca Beck, Johnson City Medical Center chief executive officer, touched on the incident during a routine overview of Ballad Health operations at a Johnson City Commission work session Thursday. "Yesterday was truly a very difficult day," she said. "One that we will not forget, certainly, the number of lives that were impacted." Beck said the hospital emergency department was already full at the time of the incident, but that the system was able to mobilize seamlessly. She added that communication between agencies is key in a crisis. "We're very fortunate to live in a community where agencies and our local governments and our healthcare systems communicate regularly, often, very well," she said. "It was the best that we could make of a really, really awful and tragic situation." Chaplains and behavioral health specialists are available to provide support to patients, families and team members involved in the incident. The Woodridge Walk-In Crisis Center also remains available to provide support and additional resources to anyone who feels they need it. The man who the Tennessee Highway Patrol reports was driving the 2003 Subaru Baja Sport was identified as John Benfield, 69, Newland, N.C. He was charged with two counts of reckless vehicular homicide and five counts or reckless aggravated assault. Benfield had his first day in court in Carter County Sessions Court on Thursday, where Judge Keith Bowers Jr. increased his bond from $150,000 to $300.000. Benfield posted the bond later on Thursday and has been released from pre trial confinement at the Carter County Detention Center. He is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 31 for a preliminary hearing. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is continuing to develop the toxicology samples taken from Benfield at the time of the crash. The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the normal turnaround time for the alcohol portion of a blood test submitted to the TBI is 4-6 weeks. The drug portion takes another 3-5 weeks after that. "It will take some time to be ready," Sgt. Matt Blankenship of the Tennessee Highway Patrol told the Johnson City Press.