Son of Whatcom County Sheriff airlifted to Harborview after I-5 crash near Alger
The son of Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo, William J. Elfo, 27, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after he was involved in a single-car crash Tuesday night on northbound Interstate 5 near the Alger exit.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Sheriff Elfo said “Prayers for a miracle are desperately needed.”
The younger Elfo is listed in critical condition and is in intensive care, Harborview spokesperson Susan Gregg told The Bellingham Herald Wednesday in an interview.
The younger Elfo, who is from Ferndale, was driving a white 2002 Subaru Legacy at approximately 11:22 p.m. near milepost 240 when the car entered the median, according to the Washington State Patrol release on the incident.
He attempted to drive out and overcorrected, Trooper Heather Axtman told The Bellingham Herald in an interview Wednesday, causing the Subaru to roll over multiple times across lanes one and two.
The car came to rest in the grass between the freeway and the exit, the release said.
I-5 was shut down for a short period so that a helicopter could land on the freeway to airlift the younger Elfo to Harborview — something that “doesn’t happen very often, unless the injuries are very severe,” Axtman said.
“We’re sending all our positive thoughts not only to him, but also his family,” Axtman told The Herald. “Anytime something like this happens, it’s awful, but at the holidays, it makes it even worse.”
The cause of crash is still under investigation, Axtman said.
This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 7:55 AM.
