13-year-old struck by vehicle in Salisbury, airlifted to hospital

SALISBURY, NC (WBTV) - A teenager was airlifted to a local hospital after being struck by a vehicle in Rowan County Monday evening.

The incident happened just after 7:30 p.m. on the 1800 block of Harrison Road in Salisbury. Officials said 13-year-old Kenyatta Belton suffered head, torso and leg injuries.

Belton was flown to an area hospital. There is no word on his condition.

Police said Edgar Welch, 28, was driving a Buick LeSabre that struck the teen.  Welch stayed at the scene of the crash and waited for police.

"We got concerned and came outside, seen a bunch of people down in the road, couldn't tell what was going on," said neighbor Charlene Swing.

Investigators have not said how the wreck may have happened or if any charges are being filed.

Police say Welch was driving 45 miles an hour, which they say is the speed limit on that stretch of road.

The victim was apparently walking with several other friends when the accident happened.

"We was walking down the road, just a normal walk, and this one car had the full road," said Sean Lankford, who was walking in the group. "We was pretty much on the white line and he wiped out one of my friends and he had the whole road to turn into even the whole other lane, even in the same lane he could have avoided him."

"My friend is really really badly hurt, it's just a normal walk gone bad and one car made a big difference," Lankford added.

According to the police report, several people in the area rushed to help the teen.  One man used a tee shirt to create a tourniquet to stop bleeding from the teen's chest.  When police arrived they used a small  "cat tourniquet" to stop the bleeding until EMS arrived.

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