A Villager was seriously injured early Tuesday afternoon after she was ejected from her golf cart when it hit a rope that was attached to a tree and stretched across Del Mar Drive.
The woman, whose name wasn’t available, was airlifted to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville with a possible head injury. She was treated by paramedics from The Villages Public Safety Department until the medical helicopter arrived.
According to officials at the scene, the crash happened at the intersection of Del Mar Drive and Del Toro Drive after a tree-trimming company stretched the rope across the roadway and attached it to a vehicle. They had cut away most of the limbs and were preparing to pull down the main section of the large tree when the incident occurred around 12:15 p.m.
Mike Seddon, who lives across Del Mar Drive from the home where the tree was being removed, said he heard the crash and immediately called 911. He said the woman was knocked out of her golf cart and his wife, Kay, grabbed towels and ran over to help the victim.
After the crash scene had been cleared, Lady Lake Police called a code enforcement officer to the scene, as it wasn’t clear if the unnamed tree-trimming service had pulled a permit to remove the tree. Officers also kept people away from the yard of the home, as the tree’s trunk had been sawed into and it wasn’t clear if it was stable. The owner of the tree service offered to pull down the tree but was told to stay away from it until code enforcement officials arrived.
