A 46-year-old Sinton woman was reported to be in critical but stable condition Monday afternoon after being injured in a one-vehicle rollover accident just north of Papalote on U.S. Highway 181 just after 1 o’clock Friday afternoon.

Highway Patrol Trooper Shawn Stephenson said Monday afternoon that he had spoken to a nurse at Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital where the victim was taken by a HALO-Flight helicopter shortly after the accident.

Stephenson said Laura Newberry was driving north on U.S. 181 when her 2001 Ford Explorer pickup apparently veered off the right side of the highway. He said it appeared that the woman pulled the vehicle back onto the roadway just seconds before colliding with a concrete driveway culvert. However, she apparently overcorrected and sent the vehicle into a sideways skid across two northbound lanes just south of where highway construction was underway and the vehicle flipped two or three times across the median and landed upright, facing south in the inside, southbound lane.

The truck was severely damaged on the left side and the victim suffered severe injuries to the left side of her torso and head.

Members of the Beeville Volunteer Fire Department and Papalote Volunteer Fire Department joined Highway Patrol troopers and the Bee County Sheriff’s Office at the scene to assist in removing the victim from the vehicle and placing her into a waiting ambulance from Angel Care Ambulance Service.

A crew from the HALO-Flight helicopter joined paramedics in the ambulance where they worked to stabilize the victim before transferring her to the waiting helicopter.

Stephenson said he was unsure why the victim veered off the highway. Speculation was that she could have fallen asleep or could have been reaching for an object and took her eyes off the highway.