Country music singer Dottie West was alert but on a respirator Saturday after being injured in a car crash that was the latest in a series of misfortunes.
West, 58, suffered a ruptured liver and possible broken neck and will require weeks to months of recovery, said Dr. John A. Morris, a surgeon at Vanderbilt Medical Center.She was listed in critical condition, and doctors had not determined whether she was paralyzed, Morris said.
"She was coherent. She recognized me. It was great to feel her hand squeeze mine," Kerry West, one of her three sons, told a news conference.
West, who sang duets with Kenny Rogers in the late 1970s, was riding in a car Friday night that went airborne as it exited a highway into the Opryland USA theme park.
George Thackston, 81, the driver, was in critical condition Saturday with unspecified injuries at Vanderbilt.
West was slightly injured July 19 when her car ran into a ditch as she drove to a performance on the Grand Ole Opry country music show, her destination Friday night.