By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
DIAMOND, Mo. — A fund-raiser has been set for next week for a Diamond schoolteacher and her husband, both injured in a pileup earlier this month on Interstate 44.
Julia Price-Allison, 41, and her husband, Ricky Allison, 62, both of Quapaw, Okla., were among those hurt in a chain of accidents in dense fog early Oct. 8 on I-44, just east of Joplin.
Price-Allison is a math teacher at Diamond High School.
The couple initially suffered serious injuries but have been upgraded to stable condition. They remain hospitalized at St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield.
“I can say that Julia is improving and is doing quite well under the circumstances,” said Diamond Superintendent Patricia Wilson, who regularly visits the couple at the hospital.
Ricky Allison, she said, is stable but remains in a coma.
Students have been making cards for Price-Allison that Wilson said she takes with her and reads aloud on her visits.
Faculty and staff members have planned a fund-raiser for Price-Allison and her husband for Thursday, Oct. 30. The benefit will include a dinner of chili or baked potato, plus drink and dessert. Several clubs and organizations at the school have assembled “baskets of goodies” to be auctioned off at the dinner.
“We are not putting a price on it,” Wilson said of the benefit. “We are just asking for donations.”
The Allisons were among seven people injured in the pileup that started about 6:40 a.m. and ultimately involved 17 vehicles. Two people — Anthony D. Embrey, 41, of Joplin, and William Campbell, 31, of Baxter, Tenn. — were killed in the first of a series of crashes.
Embrey was driving a car that ran up under a semitrailer that was involved in the initial accident, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Campbell was driving a truck rig for Willis Shaw Express, based in Elm Springs, Ark., that ran into the rear of the same trailer as Embrey.
Authorities are still investigating what caused the initial accident involving the two tractor-trailer rigs and the car driven by Embrey. Dense fog may have contributed to that initial accident, authorities have said.
Sgt. Mike Watson of the state patrol said Wednesday that the final report, involving an in-depth investigation into the crash, has not yet been completed.
Benefit
The benefit for Julia Price-Allison and Ricky Allison will go from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, in the Diamond High School commons area. Information: 325-5188, or e-mail ddorsey@diamondwildcats.org or mbrummett@diamondwildcats.org.
