A skydiver who crashed into the ground south of Knoxville in rural Marion County was listed in critical condition at a Des Moines hospital, the Knoxville Fire Department reported.
The department said in a news release that emergency crews were dispatched at 11:22 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, to a location between Highway 14 and 130th Street. An EMS crew, Marion County sheriff’s deputies and Knoxville police searched through heavy timber and standing corn until paramedics found the skydiver and began delivering advanced life support measures, the release said.
It said other crew members and law enforcement officers worked to get the fire department’s off-road utility vehicle into the area. The crew loaded the skydiver into a rescue basket and transported the patient to a waiting ambulance on Highway 14, which then carried the injured person to Knoxville Municipal Airport, where a Mercy AirMed helicopter took off to complete the transfer to Des Moines.
The department said several landowners in the area with off-road vehicles assisted in the search.
The release did not provide the name of the skydiver or details about how the accident occurred. Des Moines Skydivers, a skydiving group, operates out of the Knoxville airport. A man who answered the phone there early Sunday declined to comment or provide his name.
The Oskaloosa News reported in June 2024 that a 62-year-old Urbandale man was critically injured in a skydiving accident at the Knoxville airport.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Skydiver critically injured in plunge to ground near Knoxville
Reporting by From staff reports, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By From staff reports, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
