November 18, 2013
11/19/13 (Tippecanoe) Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating an incident involving a fall from a tree stand that resulted in serious injuries.
At 9:20 a.m. on Sunday, Indiana Conservation Officers, Marshall County Police, and EMS responded to a rural area near Tippecanoe in Marshall County for a subject that had fallen from a tree stand in the area of Fir and 20th Roads.
Rodney Kreft 54, of Tippecanoe, was deer hunting from an elevated tree stand when the stand broke sending Rodney crashing 24 feet to the ground. The tree stand had been left in the tree for several years and Rodney was not wearing a safety harness.
Rodney Kreft was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend for serious injuries to his spine.
Indiana has had 11 falls from tree stands resulting in serious injuries this year alone. Indiana Conservation Officers would like to remind all hunters inspect their equipment regularly and that the use of a Fall Arrest System (FAS) while hunting from elevated positions greatly reduces the risk of serious injury from falling.