Coffee County Central High School junior Jalie Ruehling was involved in an automobile accident Tuesday afternoon that has left her with a broken leg.
According to Grundy County Sheriff’s Department officials, Ruehling (who lives in Grundy County) was driving on Highway 50 at approximately 2:30 p.m. Tuesday (March 1, 2022) going up the mountain when it appears another vehicle veered into her lane and struck her head on.
“This investigation is preliminary at this time,” Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum told Thunder Radio news. “It looks like the other vehicle crossed the center line and struck Jalie’s car.
“At this time we are investigating whether or not there was impairment involved. We did get blood toxicology of the other driver sent to the crime lab,” added Shrum. “If there are any charges forthcoming it would come from those toxicology results.”
Ruehling was flown to Erlanger Hospital. Her injuries are not life-threatening but she suffered a compound fracture, breaking her tibia and fibula in her right leg. At the time of this story she was also having her left ankle examined for injuries.
According to Shrum, two occupants in the other vehicle were taken to Southern TN Regional Health Systems. Their names have not yet been released.
Ruehling averaged 6.7 points per game for the CHS Lady Raider basketball team this past season, which came to an end in the region semi-finals Monday night, Feb. 28. Ruehling missed the first handful of games before slowly working back into the starting lineup after tearing the ACL in her right knee in late June during a summer game.
