By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

A member of the Thompson High School wrestling team is in stable condition after he was airlifted to Trinity Medical Center following an April 30 wreck.

The wreck happened at about 7:30 p.m. when a truck being driven by THS student Branden Belser lost control and overturned on Ridgeview Lake Road off Shelby County 26.

“It happened on the gravel part of the road. His truck must have spun out of control and landed on its side,” said Alabaster First United Methodist Church Rev. Brian Erickson.

Belser and his family attend First United Methodist, where Belser is a leader in the church’s youth program.

“I was at the hospital with the family until about 1 a.m.,” Erickson said on May 1. “They are a very strong family in our church.”

After Belser was airlifted to Trinity, doctors discovered he had broken temporal bones in his forehead, a broken shoulder blade and broken collar bones, Erickson said.

Despite Belser’s head injuries, he has remained in stable condition since the accident, Erickson said.

“His vitals have been good the whole time,” Erickson said. “He has some head trauma, but he’s been stable the whole time. It could have been much worse, especially considering the condition of his truck.”

Erickson praised the Saginaw Volunteer Fire Department, and said emergency responders were able to quickly extract Belser from the truck and load him for transport.

“The fire department did an amazing job,” Erickson said. “It was like they had rehearsed it 100 times.”