Starkville resident Grant Spradling, 41, died Monday at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, after he was injured in a Saturday car wreck in Colbert County, Alabama.
WAFF-TV reported multiple people were hurt when a truck traveling eastbound on Highway 72 hydroplaned, hit a median, caught fire and collided with a westbound vehicle outside of Tuscumbia, Alabama.
According to a family friend, Spradling and his wife, Jennifer, were en route to Nashville, Tennessee, to celebrate Jennifer’s 40th birthday. The Spradlings had dropped off their three children (ages 8, 13 and 17) with family before leaving for Nashville. Jennifer Spradling did not suffer any serious injuries in the accident, according to her friend, Jamie Yates.
“She’s handling it as well as you could expect,” Yates said. “She told me she has to stay strong for the children.”
Yates and Jennifer Spradling have a close relationship built on their four years of being running partners. Jennifer, a former teacher who now owns a refurbished furniture store in downtown Starkville called Southern Chalk, taught one of Yates’ children.
“They had a great marriage, I know that,” Yates said of the Spradlings. “…She would tell you it was the best marriage anyone could have. This is just an awful, awful tragedy.”
A GoFundMe campaign launched Monday to benefit Spradling’s wife and children raised $7,630 as of press time this morning.
The GoFundMe page can be found at gofundme.com/2pr6z5sk or by searching Spradling’s name on the website.
Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by McNeece-Morris Funeral Home of Mantachie, an obituary published by the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal states.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
