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An 18-year-old Arkansas City woman was critically injured Wednesday afternoon when the car she was driving struck the back of a semi trailer near Strother Field.
Kaitlyn Mae Nicole Jarvis was taken by air ambulance to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. She was in critical condition Thursday morning, according to a hospital spokesperson.
U.S. 77 was closed for some time but reopened around 5 p.m.
Jarvis’s family was at the scene and told a KSOK reporter that the victim of the accident was set to head off to college next week.
The semi was stopped at railroad tracks near Strother, as required by law, according to Capt. Darryl Littrell of the Winfield Fire Dept. Jarvis’s 1991 Ford Taurus was traveling at highway speeds when it struck the trailer of the semi.
She was not weart a seat belt.
"The car sat low enough that the rear bumper of the trailer sheared the hood off and struck the firewall of the car," Littrell said. "The dash was caved down on her lower extremities."
Littrell said the Jarvis apparently did not see that the tanker had stopped.
She was trapped in her vehicle for approximately 15 minutes after firefighters arrived. The accident occurred around 3 p.m. A door and the top of the vehicle were removed so that firefighters could perform what is called a "dash lift" to free the victim.
Emergency personnel from Winfield and Ark City used the Jaws of Life and other equipment to remove the woman from her vehicle. She was taken to Strother Field by ambulance where she could await transport to the hospital via air ambulance.
She was transported by EagleMed to a Wichita hospital.
The semi driver was identified as Timothy Howerton, 49, Wichita. He was not injured.