Manhattan’s 4 Olives Restaurant and Wine Bar Owners Scott and Rachel Benjamin were involved in an accident this past weekend near the Appalachian Trail in northern Georgia.
Scott Benjamin tells KMAN the accident occurred Friday night at 8:30 in the Chattahoochee National Forest where he and Rachel had been hiking, when a friend from Gainesville, Georgia came to pick them up after heavy rain and some flooding of streams in the area. The friend, identified as Larry Cohan, who is a K-State graduate, picked them up and shortly after, in heavy fog, and on the way back to Gainesville, lost sight of the edge of a road with no shoulder, and rolled over twice before a large tree stopped them about 100 feet down. Benjamin says while he was halfway out the window, it’s good the tree stopped them as they had 600 feet further down the mountain they could have gone.
Benjamin further indicates they were able to get through by cellphone to authorities, with Army Rangers at Camp Merrill the first to locate them about 45 minutes later. Lumpkin County EMS rappelled down the hill and cut them out of the car. Cohan was bruised but okay according to Benjamin, but he and his wife Rachel were transported to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Rachel had some broken bones with surgery planned Monday morning. Scott Benjamin was released Sunday evening.
Benjamin says they hope to be home in a few weeks and thanks everyone for their prayers, although he adds they’re not certain Rachel will be able to decorate cakes for a while. Rachel’s well known for her work at 4 Cakes, which is associated with 4 Olives.
