NATCHEZ — A Natchez man safely escaped his smashed red Mustang Thursday, after he lost control on the highway and hit three trees while driving to class at Alcorn State University.

Orlando Cortez Blanton, 26, the driver of the car, was driving on U.S. 61 South at 8:20 a.m. when he sped off the highway in Jefferson County after spilling coffee on his lap.

Blanton’s mother, Bonnie Jones, said Blanton was being treated at Natchez Regional Medical Center for injuries to his back and neck but that her son is OK.

“A tree went through the back windshield and almost took his head off, and thank goodness it did not,” Jones said.

Jones said two men stopped to help Blanton out of his car before police arrived.