MADRAS, Ore. — A paramedic died Wednesday in the hospital six days after his motorcycle was struck by a car whose driver allegedly ran a stop sign.
KTVZ reported that Donald Heckathorn, 64, manager of Jefferson County EMS, died at the hospital where he was flown after Thursday’s accident.
The longtime medic “passed away very peacefully, surrounded by his friends and family,” according to his son Marc Heckathorn, a captain in the Jefferson County sheriff’s office.
Donald Heckathorn moved to Madras with his family in 1962 and became chief of the EMS agency in 2007, according to the Madras Pioneer. The paper reports that state police said he was wearing a helmet when his motorcycle was struck by a 36-year-old man driving a Cadillac.
The man driving the car was not injured in the crash, and no citations or enforcement decisions have been made yet, according to the report.