Man sticks head out window, crashes into tree

EMTs treated the man at the scene before he had to airlifted to the hospital

January 21, 2013 10:15 AM

By Larry Deklinski
The News-Item

LECK KILL, Pa. — A young man was flown to a hospital after a freak one-car accident Saturday evening in which he may have had his head out the window and it hit a tree.

The car, a Nissan Sentra, also apparently struck the tree.

The accident occurred around 5:30 p.m. in front of 3523 Schwaben Creek Road, between Rebuck and Leck Kill, in Upper Mahanoy Township. The Sentra sideswiped a large evergreen tree and continued traveling approximately 150 yards before stopping partially off the road.

One of the first people to arrive on scene said he heard an occupant of the car say, “My friend’s head was out the window and he hit a tree.”

State police, who are investigating the accident, did not release a report Saturday night. The investigating officer had not returned to the barracks as of 9 p.m.

Evidence at the scene suggest the car was traveling west when it partially left the road and struck the tree in front of the residence of Jim Vandervoort. A ski mask was one of the few items from the car found beside the tree.

Although an initial 911 call reported entrapment, a fire official confirmed that information was false.

A male with blood on his face lying on the back seat was treated extensively by EMTs before being transported a short distance to a field off Run A Buck Road, where a medical helicopter had landed. After a several minute delay, the male was placed in the back of the helicopter and it flew off.

Another male, described as “walking wounded,” was placed on a spinal board and transported to a hospital via ambulance. A third male did not require treatment. “My wife was in the shop when she heard a thud,” Vandervoort said as he inspected a large gash in his tree. “She looked outside and saw a car continue down the road.”