(Red Oak, IA) – Two people were injured, with one suffering serious injuries, following a collision late Sunday afternoon in Montgomery County. According to the Red Oak Police Department, a 2019 Chevy Equinox SUV driven by 61-year-old Orlando Aday Aday, of Osceola, was traveling eastbound on Highway 34 at around 4:06-p.m., when – according to his statement to police – Aday fell asleep at the wheel. The SUV crossed the center line of the highway at 8th Street and struck the front passenger side of a westbound 2013 Dodge Journey (van), driven by 28-year-old Whitney Lynn Wright, of Malvern.

According to witness to the collision, following the impact, the  SUV went airborne and turned in the air before landing on its top in the north ditch. Aday managed to crawl out the back driver’s side door of the SUV and waited in the ditch for EMS personnel to arrive. Whitney Wright exited her vehicle, and with the help of witnesses, opened the rear passenger side door to remove her child from the car seat.

Wright suffered minor injuries. Her child was unharmed. Both were going to get checked out, but did not seek transport by ambulance. Two dogs in the back of her vehicle were uninjured. Aday was transported by Red Oak Rescue to the MCMH helipad, before he was flown by Life Flight helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha.

Both vehicles were totaled in the crash. Police said Aday would be cited for driving left of center.