A man suffered critical injuries and was flown to the hospital after being heavily trapped for 60 minutes in a vehicle crash outside of Marengo in unincorporated McHenry County Tuesday morning.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts and Union Fire Protection District responded around 7:59 a.m. Tuesday to the intersection of North Union Road and Route 176 in Seneca Township, located east of Marengo and north of Union, for a vehicle crash.
First arriving emergency crews found a two-vehicle crash with heavy damage, according to Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts Public Information Officer Alex Vucha.
Both vehicles had come to rest off the roadway in the northwest ditch.
The adult male driver of a white pickup truck was found unconscious and heavily entrapped in his vehicle.
Vucha said a second ambulance and a heavy rescue squad were requested to assist with the prolonged extrication efforts.
A LifeNet medical helicopter was called to the scene due to the severity of the driver’s injuries and landed in a nearby field.
The flight crew joined ground personnel during the extrication, providing advanced medical care and working alongside firefighters to stabilize the patient while he remained trapped, Vucha said.
The trapped driver was successfully removed from the vehicle in approximately 60 minutes and transferred to the awaiting helicopter.
Vucha said the driver at the time of transport was believed to have suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville for additional treatment.
The adult male driver of a black SUV was transported by ambulance to Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital with moderate injuries.
Both drivers were the sole occupants of their vehicles.
The Woodstock Fire/Rescue District assisted with an unrelated medical call in the district during the incident, while the Huntley Fire Protection District provided fire station coverage.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the cause of the crash.
Investigators shut down the intersection for several hours and reopened it Tuesday afternoon.
