Women’s Academy Headmaster Severely Injured
By Ursula Linden
Belington – One of the headmistresses of a nearby women’s academy was critically injured last night when her car flipped off the edge of the road off route 250 just outside Belington. Paula Ross, 59, co-headmistress of the Ross-Prentiss Women’s Academy, was taken to Davis Memorial Hospital with two broken legs, broken ribs, a broken jaw, plus head and internal injuries.
"I don’t understand how she’s still alive,” paramedic George Stalnaker said. “Her body looked like a broken doll.”
Exactly how the accident occurred has been the source of some confusion. Police spokeman, Jerry Pratt, stated that there seemed to be evidence of high speed on the impact site, and eyewitnesses stated that Ross was driving “as if she was being chased.”
"People said that Ross was driving like a bat out of hell with a black four-door late model sedan following close behind her,” Pratt stated. “We’re putting out a search for the car right now.”
Paula Ross along with Katherine Prentiss was a women’s rights activist who founded the Ross-Prentiss Women’s Academy in 1972. While very private and selective about it’s students, the school is renowned for its programs on bio-genetics and women’s studies.
Students from Ross-Prentiss held vigil outside the hospital all through the night and morning.
"We’re waiting for our mother to come back hometo us," said Ross-Prentiss student, Melissa Ann Lakewood. “We don’t want her to leave us, and can’t understand why she would have wanted to in the first place.”
Ross is listed in critical but stable condition. read more
