Construction worker seriously injured while working in trench in Cedar City, police say

Written by Jeff Richards
May 16, 2023

CEDAR CITY  — A construction worker was airlifted to the hospital after being seriously injured Tuesday morning while working at a job site in Cedar City.

Construction site near 2700 W. Cody Drive in Cedar City, Utah, where a worker was injured in an incident involving a piece of heavy equipment on May 16, 2023 | Photo by Haven Scott, St. George News / Cedar City News

The incident was first reported to dispatchers at 8:36 a.m. and involved a worker who was helping install drainage culverts along Cody Drive near 2700 West. 

Cedar City Police Sgt. Justin Ludlow said the police department didn’t open a case on the incident, handling it instead as a medical assistance call.

Ludlow was, however, able to provide basic details of the incident to Cedar City News, 

“He was in the trench, next to a big black pipe,” Ludlow said. “It’s about a four-foot diameter pipe. They were moving the backhoe bucket and it accidentally slipped off the tractor. It didn’t land on him, but it fell off the hole and then it nicked him.”

The man sustained a serious head laceration that included significant injury to his left ear, Ludlow added.

“There was a lot of damage around the ear,” Ludlow said. “They said that he was missing an ear but I don’t know for sure.”

Ludlow said he did not know whether the man was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. The man was conscious and breathing when first responders arrived at the scene, Ludlow added.

After being treated by medical personnel at the scene, the injured man was transported via an Intermountain Life Flight medical helicopter to St. George Regional Hospital. 

As of late Tuesday afternoon, there had not been any updates regarding the man’s condition.

“We didn’t do an investigation,” Ludlow said. “There’s no criminal investigation aspect.”

This report is based on preliminary statements from first responders and law enforcement officials and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Cedar City News reporter HAVEN SCOTT contributed to this story.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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