Newspaper

At about 9:30 a.m. Jared Kornfeld was driving a tractor eastbound across the train tracks on 125th street west of Grace Hill Road, when the tractor was struck by a train.

The swather was dragged 1,290 feet from the point of impact. Kornfeld was thrown off the swather before the train stopped. "The train as blowing its horn and was doing what it was supposed to do, but this is not a controlled intersection," said Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton. "The tractor was impaled by the train."

Jared, 21, of Whitewater was conscious upon the arrival of emergency personnel and was flown from the scene by Eagle Med to Wesley Hospital in critical condition, with severe head injuries. By afternoon he was stable but remained in ICU.

The Whitewater First Responders, Newton Fire/EMS, Harvey County Sheriff, Sedgwick County Sheriff, Sedgwick County EMS, and the Kansas Highway Patrol all responded to the accident.

Jarod attended Frontier School of the Bible, and worked for Elkhorn Outfitters. He had recently returned home for the summer.