Ambulance Driver, Patient Die in Wreck

An ambulance carrying a cardiac patient to a hospital veered off a highway after the driver apparently suffered a heart attack, and both people died, authorities said.

The driver, Jerry Decker, 54, and patient Cornelia Larson, 71, both of Hunter, were pronounced dead late Thursday at St. Luke’s Hospital in Fargo.

Decker picked up Larson after she suffered an apparent heart attack at her home, Cass County Sheriff Don Rudnick said. He said Decker had driven about 25 miles when he apparently suffered a heart attack. The ambulance went across the opposite lanes of traffic before stopping in a ditch.

The accident did not cause any injuries, but attendants who were in the ambulance could not revive Larson and Decker, Rudnick said.