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Truck hits, injures Samaritan

The man, 74, is in critical condition. He was trying to help a stuck driver.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published February 3, 2007

TAMPA - A 74-year-old Gibsonton man was in critical condition Friday after a semitrailer truck hit him as he crossed Pendola Point Road near Port Sutton, authorities said.

Wendell W. French, a supervisor for Coastal Security, was helping a security guard whose truck got stuck in a ditch when the accident happened, said Clementine French, 67, his wife of almost 48 years.

Wendell French waited for one truck to pass but was looking at a tow truck driver when a second truck came down the street and struck him about 9:15 a.m., Clementine French said.

"I didn't even get the chance to tell him I loved him before he left this morning," she said.

The couple - who have four children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren - usually tell one another they love each other every morning and night. But things were hectic Friday, she said.

French of 6131 Shirley Ave. in Gibsonton was taken to Tampa General Hospital.

Fernando A. Gutierrez, 43, of 7811 N Jamaica St. in Tampa, was driving east on Pendola Point Road carrying a load of dirt when he hit French with the left front corner of his truck, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. He was not charged.

In his 74 years, French has made it through his share of risky situations, his wife said. He survived cancer, clots in his lungs, the Korean War. He rode a motorcycle for years. And he was still grieving the November death of his 45-year-old daughter, Pandora Gagnon of Georgia.

"He's been through a lot," Clementine French said Friday night as she prepared to go back to the hospital to be with her husband, now in a coma. "That's why I think he's going to come out of this."

Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at 813 226-3383 or rcatalanello@ sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 3, 2007, 06:12:38]