Same wreck over and over

Morris was preparing for work at Walmart the morning of June 3, when her sister, Tracey Sherrill, who was working at the Department of Human Resources, called to tell her about the accident.

Burns was driving his old Dodge truck west on 72 to Elgin to help someone with a project, Morris said. He came upon the fuel truck that had slowed in the left lane to turn into the school construction site off Hardy about 8:30 a.m., she said.

After impact, his throat struck the steering and he broke his neck, suffered two brain hemorrhages and crushed his voice box, she said.

Unaware of how badly he was injured, Burns was conscious after the wreck and even called his brother, Aaron, to tell him to pick up his truck, she said.

“He was hurting and he was real hoarse but he didn’t know how bad he was,” Morris said. “He had four heart attacks before so this was no big deal. But when he got to the hospital his airway started to swell.”

He was flown by helicopter to Huntsville Hospital, where doctors had to put him on a ventilator and install a feeding tube.

“The last time we heard his voice was on Wednesday when they put in an airway,” Morris said. “He suffered terribly the last six days. We decided to let him go.”

She wants people to know how much she and her family loved him.

“He was a character,” she said. “He loved to talk and help people. He loved to watch Alabama football, go fishing with his brothers and sit on the back porch with my mom and watch birds.”

She hopes his death will remind motorists to beware on 72 — that their lives can change in an instant.