Teen injured in low-speed crash on Hilton Head is home from hospital

Elliott Turner, the 18-year-old Bluffton High School graduate injured in a two-car wreck on Hilton Head Island last week, was released from Hilton Head Hospital on Sunday after having spent three days in intensive care.

Turner, who had been set to begin his freshman year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Monday, now will take classes online and receive tutoring from volunteer teachers at Bluffton High School until he's healthy enough to head to Nebraska, the teen's father, Tony Turner, said Tuesday.

Elliott Turner, whose family is from the Midwest and who plans to major in history, hopes to be in Lincoln by Oct. 1, Tony Turner said.

The university is even holding the job Elliott got at the campus bookstore, Tony Turner said.

"They've bent over backwards to help him fulfill his dream," he said.

On Aug. 17, Elliott Turner was a passenger in a car driven by a friend when the two were struck by another driver who failed to yield the right of way. The teens' car was traveling about 20 mph; the other car was going about 5 mph, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

Though it was a low-speed crash, Turner underwent a five-hour surgery last week to repair a tear in his aorta, the main blood vessel that pumps blood through the heart, his father said.

"It was a deceleration injury," he said. "They stopped so suddenly that it tears, even though their seat belts were all on. When you go from 20 mph to zero in 1/100th of a second, your body just cannot take that."

He said Elliott is sore and resting at home.

The driver of the car Turner was in received minor injuries. No one was injured in the other car.