Heart attack claims driver in I-95 accident

HAMPTON -- An 82-year-old Florida woman died about three hours after a single-car wreck Tuesday evening on Interstate 95 in Jasper County.

Helen R. Looby, 82, of Biscayne Park, Fla., was the driver of a Honda that ran off the road on southbound I-95 at Point South at about 5 p.m.

Before the wreck, Looby had begun to drift into the left lane, police said. The driver of a vehicle in that lane honked, causing Looby to over-correct and make a hard right turn off the highway.The car spun, hit a sign post and flipped, said Cpl. Paul Brouthers of the S.C. Highway Patrol.

Looby was taken to Hampton Regional Medical Center and was about to be transferred to a major trauma center because of a fractured hip and other injuries when she had a heart attack and died at about 7:45 p.m., said Hampton County Coroner Gordon Rhoden.

Looby was in the car with her two sisters and was headed to a class reunion, Rhoden said. Both surviving sisters were treated and released from the hospital. All three were wearing seat belts.