Man airlifted to Springfield hospital following dump truck rollover crash
photo courtesy of Brixey/Rockbridge VFD Responders stayed on scene for several hours as the roadway was cleared of the spilled gravel.
photo courtesy of Ed Doiron Kenny Pickett rolled the dump truck he was driving full of gravel last week on Highway 181 near Zanoni, leaving him with several broken ribs, bruising, scrapes and other injuries. He was airlifted to a Springfield hospital, where he remained for four days before being released to recover at home.
Seventy-year-old Gainesville resident Kenny Pickett is now home recovering after spending four days in the hospital last week due to injuries he sustained when he rolled the MLH dump truck he was driving on Highway 181, north of Gainesville, July 14.
“We really appreciate all the prayers, calls, texts and FB messages we’ve received since the accident,” said Nancy Steele, Pickett’s longtime girlfriend. “Keep them coming. He still has a long road ahead of him, but he is feeling better. We live in awesome community.”
Nancy said that she and Pickett have lived together for more than 20 years, and he has been a truck driver for almost all of his life.
“He was an over the road truck driver. Owned his first truck when he was 16, and this is the first one he ever laid down,” Nancy said. “He doesn’t remember the wreck or why it happened at all.”
According to Missouri State Highway Patrol Tpr. K. H. Hogan, Pickett was driving the 2004 Mack truck northbound on Highway 181, about one mile north of Zanoni, when he traveled off the right side of the roadway and overturned. Pickett was airlifted to Cox South Hospital following the crash.
Nancy said when he arrived at the hospital, staff there told her that he had broken all of the ribs on his left side. He also had a large hematoma on the left side of his head, and hospital staff “sewed his left ear back together,” Nancy said, as well as stitching up a big cut behind his ear. “He has large bruises, contusions and scrapes,” she said. He was released from the hospital July 18.
Even though the call was not from their districts, Gainesville and Brixey-Rockbridge VFDs responded to the scene, in addition to law enforcement and ambulance personnel. The volunteer first responders say they are thankful that Ozark County’s volunteer fire departments work cooperatively together in mutual aid, as all of the departments are short handed.
“As with all volunteer fire departments, the local department was short handed, and [the main fire department] needed others to cover this call for help...” a post on the BRVFD Facebook page said. “Please consider volunteering at your local fire department. The average age of volunteers is near 60. We need new, younger volunteers. Whether it is a fundraiser, directing traffic, delivering water, offering medical aid or fighting fires, there is a position for everyone. If this were your loved one, wouldn’t you want someone to answer the call?”