Emergency responders with the Big Spring Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service, as well as the Howard County Sheriff's Office, prepare a Slaton man to be life-flighted to a hospital in Odessa Friday morning following a motorcycle accident on N. Highway 87. (HERALD photo/Thomas Jenkins)

Slaton man injured in cycle wreck

By THOMAS JENKINS     
Staff Writer
A 61-year-old Slaton man was life-flighted from the scene of an accident several miles north of Big Spring on N. Highway 87 Friday morning with what law enforcement officials described as serious injuries.

Donald Wayne Patterson, 61, of Slaton was transported from the scene of the accident — the intersection of N. Highway 87 and FM 1584 — by the Big Spring Air Evac Lifeteam shortly after 10 a.m.

According to Howard County Chief Deputy Mark Hall, the accident was a one-vehicle motorcycle wreck.

“We received a 911 call in reference to a major accident involving one vehicle — a motorcycle — near the intersection of N. Highway 87 and FM 1584,” said Hall. “Apparently he had just purchased the motorcycle and was headed home. He turned off of Highway 87 while traveling northbound onto FM 1584 at too high a rate of speed, hit some gravel and lost control of the motorcycle, striking a sign pole and laying the motorcycle on its side.”

Hall said there have been several wrecks in the past at the intersection due to a deceptive slope that many drivers attempt to take at too high a rate of speed.

Patterson was transported to a hospital in Odessa, according to Hall, and was in serious but stable condition at the time he was life-flighted.

“He appeared to have some minor facial injuries and a broken leg,” said Hall. “It's unclear if he sustained any other injuries in the accident. He was life-flighted to a hospital in Odessa They had originally planned to take him to University Medical Center in Lubbock, but then they decided to take him to the closest facility, which was Odessa.”

It's unclear if Patterson purchased the new motorcycle in Big Spring or was simply traveling through the Crossroads area at the time of the accident, according to Hall.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it