CANTON – Two adults and two children, all of Lewiston, were rushed to hospitals Monday morning following a single-vehicle wreck on the Canton Point Road.

Driver Shawaun Johnson, 28, and passengers Angela Pressey, 19, Kevon Johnson, 3, and 6-month-old Tyreig Johnson were transported by Med-Care Ambulance to Rumford Hospital.

Shawaun Johnson, who suffered a possible spinal injury, was then airlifted to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

Oxford County Sgt. Tim Holland said the children were “doing fine.” Rumford Hospital spokeswoman Jane Bubar said Pressey was treated and released.

Holland said the 11:30 a.m. wreck occurred on a sharp curve one mile west of Canton Point Road’s intersection with Route 140.

Shawaun Johnson was driving a 1992 Hyundai Excel east on the road, “coming into the corner too fast when the car blew its right rear tire,” Holland said Monday afternoon. “The tire was faulty, that’s why it blew. They said there is a history of that tire giving them problems.”

The car crossed the opposite lane and went into a drainage ditch where it smacked an embankment, bounced off, spun 360 degrees and collided with a stone embedded in the same embankment a short distance away.

“They just come into the curve a little too fast,” Canton Fire Chief Wayne Dube said.

Canton firefighter Lt. Jim Dyment said when he arrived Shawaun Johnson was “sitting halfway out of the car while (Pressey) was in the car. The two adults were injured. The kids were strapped in the back seat. They weren’t even crying. We gave them each a stuffed toy and they were happy.”

Kneeling beside the driver’s seat, Third Assistant Fire Chief Mark Blanchette comforted and talked with Kevon Johnson as firefighters worked to remove the youth from the back seat and strap him to a spinal board as a precaution.

“We gave them all C-spines, which support the neck so they don’t get more injuries,” Dyment added.

Canton Rescue and firefighters and Med-Care personnel secured the two adults and 3-year-old to spinal boards then loaded them onto gurneys before transporting them to the hospital. A Med-Care paramedic carried the baby in its basket to one of three awaiting ambulances.

The wreck was called in by a Maine Department of Transportation crew who were working in the area.

“They took right over on traffic control and that was great. It was something we don’t get very often,” Dyment said.

Dube said the corner, one of several curves on the Canton Point Road, averages two wrecks a year.

“It’s sharper than people think. We’ve had (wrecks) in both (directions). It doesn’t matter which way they’re going,” Dube added.

Holland said the Hyundai sustained $2,000 damage. It was towed by M/T Pockets of Dixfield.

In addition to nine Canton Rescue personnel and firefighters, Oxford County Sheriff’s Department sent Dixfield Police Chief Richard A. Pickett to the scene to secure it and gather information initially because he was closer than was Holland.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com