NH Man Dies from in Parkway Crash Injuries

An 19-year-old New Hampshire man has died from injuries he suffered when his car slammed into a tree along the Merritt Parkway on the Greenwich-Stamford border Thursday morning.

A Stamford Hospital spokesman said that Branden Myers of Chester, NH, died at 5:30 a.m. Friday from injuries he suffered in the crash that occurred about a tenth of a mile north of the Guinea Road overpass, just over the Greenwich-Stamford border. The crash occurred shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday.

Greenwich Deputy Fire Chief Tom Nixon said it took emergency crews from Greenwich and Stamford Fire Departments nearly an hour to extricate Myers from the car that was demolished after slamming into a tree. "The car was completely wrapped around a tree. He was heavily entrapped in the vehicle," Nixon said. Nixon said that crews had to use ladders to be able to reach the wreckage because there was a nearly 7-foot drop off. Firefighters had to hoist 80-pound hydraulic equipment up ladders to rescue Myers.

"It was an extremely difficult extrication, a hard-fought effort from Greenwich and Stamford in order to get the victim out and to get him transported," Nixon said. Nixon said that Stamford Police brought a trauma surgeon from Stamford Hospital to the scene.

"When he showed up we just finished disenentangling him ... the surgeon was aboard (the Greenwich Emergency Medical Service ambulance) that took him to Stamford. I’ve been doing this for 24 years and this is only the second time that I’ve seen a trauma surgeon needed," Nixon said.

According to a Connecticut State Police report, Myers was in the left northbound lane of the parkway when he veered across the road and hit the tree, suffering incapicitating injuries and multiple fractures.

*Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct Myers' age which was incorrect because of a reporting error.