Carrie Underwood Donates $10,000 To Hometown Police Officer With Broken Neck

Carrie Underwood has given $10,000 to a childhood friend and police officer in her hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma, after he suffered a broken neck and a number of other injuries following a car crash on the morning of February 11 while on his way to work at the local police department.

According to a report by Tulsa’s ABC 8 News, Underwood heard about the incident and donated the five-figure sum to Checotah Assistant Police Chief Justin Durrett who sustained what the outlet is describing as “massive injuries” after he was involved in a scary rollover crash that left him in the ICU.

In addition to breaking his neck in the accident, Durrett also has “a bruised spine, multiple gashes on his head and numbness from his chest down.”

While it’s not clear how Carrie, who now lives in Tennessee with her husband Mike Fisher and almost 3-year-old son, Isaiah, heard about Durrett’s injuries, the site is claiming that she generously donated $10,000 after learning about the crash via the officer’s GoFundMe page.

KOTV reporter Tess Maune also confirmed Carrie’s generous donation on Twitter, where she revealed that Underwood and Durrett were childhood friends growing up in the small town of Checotah, Oklahoma, and even used to attend the same church.

“Checotah native and country superstar @carrieunderwood has donated $10,000 to Checotah Assistant Police Chief Justin Durrett,” Maune tweeted. “The two were childhood friends who grew up going to the same church. Durrett broke his neck in a crash on his way to work Sunday.”

Describing the crash on the charity funding page, it was revealed that Durrett was ejected from his truck as it rolled over while he was making his way to work and was then trapped underneath the vehicle for at least 45 minutes.

The GoFundMe page currently has more than $12,300 of Durrett’s $20,000 goal reached, $10,000 of which came from Underwood.

The account shows Carrie – who’s still recovering from a few more minor injuries of her own including facial cuts and a broken wrist after falling outside her home in November – made her donation to her childhood friend’s fund to help him and his family pay his medical bills on February 18 under her married name of Carrie Fisher.

Even though she’s arguably one of the most famous stars in the world of country music, Underwood continues to check in with her hometown after moving to Tennessee following her Season 4 American Idol win in 2005.

Koco News 5 reported last year that Underwood has continued to better her hometown since shooting to fame 13 years ago, even setting up C.A.T.S (Checotah Animal, Town, and School Foundation) foundation in 2009 which aims to raise funds to improve Checotah.

The site revealed that Carrie has done a number of good deeds over the years, including donating generators to the local fire department.

She’s also given $50,000 to fund the area’s first community splash pad, and gifting the town music equipment for school children as well raising money for the new animal shelter. Via her Dick’s Sporting Goods Athleisure line, last year Carrie pledged $100,000 to support sports programs in local schools.

“I don’t think that people really realize what all that she has done,” Checotah Mayor Daniel Tarkington told the news outlet of Carrie’s hometown efforts back in November. “So much, because she doesn’t go around bragging on herself. She just goes about and does things.”