The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

January 30, 2009

Man badly injured after helping car owner

Kurt LeDell in critical condition

By Dan Nienaber

MANKATO — Just minutes before the sounds of sirens came from every direction Thursday, Kurt LeDell was joking around with co-workers as he headed out the door to help a customer.

“He told me, ‘I’ve got to go over to help this woman with her starter — or I guess it’s a no-starter,’” said Jeff Lloyd, a manager who works for LeDell at Jiffy Tire and Repair.

“He was just trying to help out. That’s the kind of person he is.”

The woman, Alicia Reyes of Owatonna, had walked over from the nearby Batteries Plus store to ask for help.

She’d just bought a new battery for her car, but it still wouldn’t start. So LeDell, 28, walked back with her to see what he could do.

When sirens sounded a short time later, Lloyd ran to the scene and found his boss bleeding profusely.

On Friday he remained in Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital in critical condition with a head injury.

Somehow, as LeDell was trying to get Reyes’ 1993 Ford started, the car moved forward and pinned LeDell’s head between its bumper and the Battery Plus storefront wall.

Corey Solberg was working in the store at the time. He ran out, put the car in reverse and pulled it away from the wall before calling 911 about 1 p.m.

“One minute I was giving them a screwdriver and the next minute everyone was screaming,” Solberg said. “I did what I could to help him.”

Steve Caron, Battery Plus manager, also went outside after hearing the commotion. He described a terrible scene as people from other businesses in the strip mall came outside. Some tried to help. Others just stood there in shock.

“The hood was up and there was blood everywhere,” Caron said.

LeDell was attempting to jump the starter on the car, said Cmdr. Jeremy Clifton of the Mankato Police Department.

It’s a common tactic used by mechanics to see if there is a problem with the wires connected to a vehicle’s starter, or the starter itself, said Tom Leonard, a mechanic at the Service Rack in North Mankato.

For the car to start and run long enough to pin LeDell, the ignition on the car would have had to be turned to on, Leonard said.

The car also would have had to be in gear to move forward. If that was the case, he said, that could have also explained why the car wouldn’t start. Most cars won’t start unless the transmission is in park or neutral.

Lloyd was able to visit LeDell in the hospital Thursday night, and said LeDell was able to give a thumbs-up sign.

LeDell, who graduated from Minnesota State University in spring 2007 with a degree from the Department of Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology, has a toddler son named Anders, Lloyd said.

That boy is one reason Lloyd is sure his friend will pull through.

“Keep him in your prayers,” Lloyd said. “He’s a stubborn guy and he has a lot to live for. He’s going to make it. If you know him, you know he doesn’t like to be in a bed.”

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