Serious Injuries Suffered in Christmas Day Collision on Sterling Highway

Two persons suffered serious injuries, one of which were considered life-threatening, and two others received minor injuries in a Sterling Highway crash late Christmas Day the trooper dispatch reports.

The Alaska Highway Patrol out of Kenai responded to a three vehicle crash near milepost 145.5 at 5:50 pm on Christmas Day after a Toyota SUV plowed into two vehicles on the side of the road at that location.

The trooper investigation at the scene revealed that 29-year-old Mathany Christine Satterwhite was traveling northbound on the highway in a blue 1994 Toyota Pickup when she broke down. 51-year-old Nathaniel Sargeant came to her aid in a white 1997 Dodge van. The van and truck were facing front-to-front as the occupants attempted to jump the truck from the van’s battery.

It was then that a green 1999 Toyota SUV driven by 29-year-old Larry Pyatt was traveling northbound. As he approached the scene, he did not see the pickup, but only the single un-obscured headlight of the van. As he attempted to slow, he “began to skid on the slushy roads,” the troopers report. Pyatt impacted the truck in the rear.

Meanwhile, Satterwhite and her passenger were attending to the jumper cables as they were attempting to jump-start the truck. Satterwhite’s passenger was in between the truck and the van at the time of the impact and was pinned between the two vehicles as the truck was rearended. The passenger suffered life-threatening injuries. Satterwhite was thrown into the ditch by the impact and suffered serious injuries.

Pyatt and Sargeant suffered minor injuries in the accident.

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All four of the crash victims were from Anchor Point.

The investigation into the accident is continuing.