Troy University Athletics
Troy Rodeo Loses Athlete in Accident
7/27/2009 4:00:00 PM | Rodeo
Story courtesy of Tom Smith, senior staff writer, at the TimesDaily
GOOSE SHOALS - A Lauderdale County man was killed in a one-car accident Saturday morning on Lauderdale 8, just before Goose Shoals Bridge.
State troopers at the Quad-Cities post said Daniel Clemmons, 20, 4263 Lauderdale 94, which is in the Greenhill area, was killed in the accident.
Troopers said they aren't sure when the accident actually occurred, believing it could have been late Friday night. The wreck was not discovered until just before 8 a.m. Saturday.
Troopers said a motorist driving through the Goose Shoals area saw the wrecked vehicle and called authorities.
Lauderdale County Coroner Andy High pronounced Clemmons dead at the scene. High said Clemmons died from multiple blunt force trauma.
Clemmons was eastbound on Lauderdale 8 and was coming out of a curve when the 2003 Ford Explorer he was driving ran off the road, went down an embankment and flipped several times, including over a fence, before coming to a stop, troopers said.
Emergency personnel at the scene said Clemmons was ejected from the vehicle. Clemmons was a 2007 graduate of Rogers High School and a member of the Troy University rodeo team.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Ronnie Willis said his son graduated from high school with Clemmons.
"He was a good boy," the sheriff said. "He had a lot of life to live, and I really feel for his family."
Willis said Clemmons worked on his family's farm and with his father's trucking business.
"His family is well known in the Greenhill community, and I know this is devastating to them," said Rep. Mike Curtis, D-Greenhill, who knew the victim's family. Curtis said his wife, who teaches at Rogers, knew Clemmons.
"This is something that will really touch this community," Curtis said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time."
Rogers High School Principal Tim Tubbs said Clemmons was on a rodeo scholarship to Troy University.
"This is such a tragedy. Daniel was a fine young man," Tubbs said. "He was well liked and had a great personality. We all hurt for his parents."
Clemmons is the 28th person to die from injuries sustained in a traffic accident this year in northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.
