Man survives fiery wreck, secures $750K settlement.

Byline: Bill Cresenzo

A man whose car caught on fire while he was trapped inside after it was hit-head on by a dump truck has obtained a $750,000 pre-lawsuit settlement with the at-fault driver's insurance company, his attorneys report.

Josh Valentine and Blake Caulder of Caulder & Valentine Law Firm in Shelby said that their client, Jason Pasour, was driving to work in Cherryville in Gaston County in August 2018 while Vincent McCorkle was driving a dump truck owned by John E. Jenkins, Inc. in the opposite direction.

McCorkle swerved across the double yellow line into oncoming traffic and slammed into the front driver's side corner of Pasour's vehicle at a high rate of speed. McCorkle's dump truck "mutilated" the entire front of Pasour's vehicle, and the impact sent the remains of Pasour's vehicle careening almost 50 feet off the road, Valentine said.

The entire steering column of his vehicle shifted inward and pinned Pasour against the back of his seat. The car caught fire, and Pasour was trapped inside the vehicle for more than half an hour, going in and out of consciousness, before firefighters were able to rescue him. Paramedics had to insert a tube into Pasour's chest to supply him with oxygen to keep him alive as he was rushed by ambulance to CaroMont Regional Medical Center and then by air ambulance to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, Valentine said.

Surgeons operated on his lung and diaphragm, which revealed a hernia and lacerations and a collapsed lung. Pasour also had other injuries including a herniated stomach and spleen. Two months later, a surgeon...