{"id":17175,"date":"2025-05-22T22:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T22:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=17175"},"modified":"2025-05-22T22:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T22:10:10","slug":"lane-smith-a-young-father-his-toddler-son-died-in-i-75-pile-up-in-east-ridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=17175","title":{"rendered":"Lane Smith, a Young Father, &#038; His Toddler Son Died in I-75 Pile-up in East Ridge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"99\" data-end=\"484\">A Tennessee family is reeling from a heartbreaking crash that claimed the lives of 23-year-old Lane Smith and his young son, Sawyer, on May 11, 2025. Lane&#8217;s wife, Baleigh, and their daughter, Brynlee, were also critically injured in the fiery multi-vehicle collision on I-75 in East Ridge. The family had been returning home from Brynlee\u2019s dance competition when the accident occurred.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"486\" data-end=\"835\">First responders and heroic bystanders rushed to the scene, pulling victims from the wreckage and battling flames until help arrived. Among them was Larissa Collett, a nurse who leapt into action despite the danger. Witnesses described a chaotic but courageous rescue effort, crediting good Samaritans with saving lives in those vital early minutes.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"837\" data-end=\"1219\">Tragically, young Sawyer succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. Brynlee was airlifted to Nashville and remains in recovery alongside her mother. The driver of the tractor-trailer involved, 65-year-old Joseph Antoinier, has been charged with multiple counts including reckless homicide and assault after surveillance footage revealed reckless driving behavior prior to the crash.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1221\" data-end=\"1556\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">In response, the community has rallied around the surviving family. A GoFundMe campaign has raised over $85,000 to help cover funeral and medical expenses. Loved ones continue to share memories and tributes online, while local businesses host fundraisers to support Baleigh and Brynlee as they begin a long and painful road to healing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Tennessee family is reeling from a heartbreaking crash that claimed the lives of 23-year-old Lane Smith and his young son, Sawyer, on May 11, 2025. Lane&#8217;s&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lane Smith, a Young Father, &amp; His Toddler Son Died in I-75 Pile-up in East Ridge -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=17175\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lane Smith, a Young Father, &amp; His Toddler Son Died in I-75 Pile-up in East Ridge -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Tennessee family is reeling from a heartbreaking crash that claimed the lives of 23-year-old Lane Smith and his young son, Sawyer, on May 11, 2025. 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