By Tina Kitt

The Wauneta Breeze

A crew member working on a street project in Wauneta sustained serious injuries in a work site accident Tuesday morning. Frank Kleist Jr., 43, of Wellfleet, suffered serious injuries to his legs after he was backed over by a skid loader. Kleist is a member of the BSB Construction crew working to replace two blocks of street running east and west of the Pawnee Street/Tecumseh Avenue intersection.

According to information made available by Chase County Deputy Sheriff Bill Whitlow who responded at the scene, a skid loader driven by 24-year-old James Rice of Maywood was moving dirt to set the grade on the torn-up street just north of the Wauneta Breeze newspaper office.

Kleist was using measuring devices to check the grade behind the loader. After the loader had moved more dirt Kleist stepped behind the loader to check the grade.

Not realizing Kleist had stepped behind the loader, Rice began to back up. The audible alarm for backing up was inoperable on the skid loader, giving Kleist no warning. The CAT 277C skid loader struck him, knocking him over and driving over his legs.

Rice felt the loader go over something and stopped to check on it. Once he saw the Kleist under the loader he moved the loader off of him.

A coworker ran to the newspaper office asking employees there to summon an ambulance.

Jodi Spady, a physician’s assistant at Wauneta’s Chase County Clinic located less than a block from the scene of the accident, was quickly on site rendering assistance as was the Wauneta Emergency Medical Services crew.

Kleist was transported to Chase County Community Hospital in Imperial by the Wauneta EMS. He was later flown by helicopter to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney where he is being treated for a compound fracture on his lower left leg and a possible fracture of his lower right leg.

BSB machines were idled throughout the morning after the accident, but work on the project resumed later Tuesday afternoon.