By Tim Gardner
A motorcycle wreck on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain this past Labor Day weekend has claimed the life of an 11-year-old child, according to the National Park Service.
On Sunday, September 6th at approximately 11:45 a.m., near Boone Fork Overlook in Julian Price Park (Milepost 297), a southbound motorcycle operated by Jason Kruk of Taylorsville, NC, took corrective action after the vehicle in front of him suddenly stopped. That caused the motorcycle to enter the northbound traffic lane where it collided with a pickup truck.
Kruk was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for his injuries. Kruk’s 11-year-old son, who was a passenger on the motorcycle, was airlifted to a hospital where he died from his injuries. Both were wearing helmets at the time of the accident.
The driver of the truck was not identified by the NPS, but was reported to have received only minor injuries.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles in length, and was built as a scenic roadway to attract tourism during the Great Depression runs from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, through Asheville, and ends at the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Cherokee.
Blue Ridge Parkway officials said this is the 11th fatality on the parkway this year. There were 19 deaths on the parkway in 2019. It is the second-most visited national park site in the country, with nearly 15 million visitors last year.