1 dead, 3 critical after head-on

WILLOW — An 80-year-old Trapper Creek woman was killed and three other people were in critical condition following a Thursday afternoon head-on collision that closed part of the Parks Highway for a short time.

Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said the call about the head-on crash came in at 1:15 p.m., and happened at about Mile 63 of the highway.

“We have one confirmed fatality and three people that are injured,” Peters said.

Delores Stilwell was the passenger in a 1989 blue Chevrolet van driven by 82-year-old Lee Stilwell and died at the scene when the van crossed the center line while traveling southbound on the Parks Highway, colliding with a 2004 white Subaru Outback, troopers report.

The Subaru was driven by Jeanette Keida, 68, of Willow. A passenger in the Subaru, Richard Keida, 64, of Willow, was also injured.

Capt. Christian Hartley of the Houston Fire Department was among those who responded to the scene and praised the efforts of a pair of passersby who rendered immediate aid to the accident victims. One was an off-duty LifeMed paramedic and the other an off-duty surgeon.

Upon coming to the scene, the paramedic and surgeon kept the three critical patients calm and in the vehicles while extricating Delores Stilwell to perform CPR before she died, Hartley said.

“She was given every chance because the people passing by stopped to help and knew how to help,” Hartley said.

Along with Houston Fire Department, Willow Fire Department responded to the accident scene, as well as ambulances from Willow Ambulance, West Lakes Fire Department and Central Mat-Su Fire Department, Hartley said.

Of the three critical patients, Lee Stilwell and Richard Keida were taken by ambulance to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, and Jeanette Keida was flown by LifeMed helicopter to Providence Hospital in Anchorage.

Alaska State Troopers report all were wearing the seat belts at the time of the accident and that both vehicles are a total loss.