Piedmont Police and Fire Department units responded to a two-vehicle crash around 3:30 Monday afternoon, on Highway 21 in front of Piedmont High School.

According to reports, they arrived to find a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck and a dark blue Chevy Venture mini-van with both suffering substantial damage to the front end.  Police Chief Nathan Johnson says it appears the cause of the crash was that one of the drivers suffered a medical issue while behind the wheel; Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown stated that the driver of the mini-van, identified as Donald “Donnie” Hill, 59 of Piedmont was pronounced dead at the scene.  It’s believed that Hill was experiencing a medical emergency (possibly a heart attack) – which caused him to leave his lane of travel and strike the pickup head-on.

The cause of death has been listed as “blunt force trauma” with an underlying second cause of “medical emergency”.  A seven year old passenger in the mini-van was air-lifted from the scene to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham for treatment) – and is reportedly listed in serious condition

Meanwhile, the driver of the pickup was carried to an area hospital for the treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Information from Jim Evancho – (Calhoun County Journal/www.calhounjournal.com)