Personal Injury Law

Wichita Family Publicly Begs Trucker to Acknowledge Accident That Disabled Youth

By Jeffrey Lowe

As a Missouri semi truck accident lawyer, I was sorry to read about a serious accident in Springfield involving a victim from neighboring Kansas. As KWCH in Wichita reported Feb. 9, 15-year-old Dillon McKee suffered massive brain trauma Jan. 18 after he was sideswiped by a semi truck on Highway 44. McKee and his uncle were on their way home from Springfield, Mo. when their vehicle broke down. McKee was helping the tow truck driver when the trucker apparently drove too close to the disabled vehicle. Something on the truck hit McKee in the right side of his head, causing massive trauma that doctors expect to leave him permanently disabled.

McKee and his uncle weren?t far out of Springfield when their truck broke down. Neither had a mobile phone, so the uncle, who was not named, left to get help. McKee stayed in the cab of the truck while he waited, but got out when the tow truck arrived. That?s when a semi passed too close to the other trucks and hit McKee, then the disabled pickup truck. According to cousin Jamie Bell, the object that struck McKee took off much of the right side of his skull; doctors say he will never walk or talk again. The trucker then sideswiped the pickup. Family members say the white semi may have red paint on it from the sideswipe. They?re asking anyone with information about the truck to get in touch with the Missouri Highway Patrol at 417-895-6868.

Bell said her family is looking for information and some closure. But as a St. Louis tractor-trailer accident attorney, I know the family may also soon face the more practical problem of how to handle McKee?s care. Unfortunately, severe brain injuries like this often require full-time care for the rest of the victim?s life. That can get expensive very quickly for an ordinary family, especially when budget cuts constrain public health programs like Medicare. If the trucker in this accident is identified, he or she ? and the trucking company he or she was working for ? could be held legally and financially responsible for all of those costs and others. In addition, the trucker might face charges for leaving the scene or failing to move over in the first place.

Full post as published by Trucking Accident Attorney Blog on February 17, 2011 (boomark / email).