UPDATE: IA worker still in critical condition after 40-foot fall onto rocks

(ABC 6 News) – The quarry worker who fell from the edge of a Byron quarry Tuesday remains in critical condition, according to the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office.

Capt. James Schueller said the 28-year-old Fredericksberg man underwent surgeries and can, according to reports, put weight on his broken leg.

However, the man faces several more surgeries, Schueller said, and is still considered to be in critical condition.

“Sounds like he’s going to have a rough road ahead of him,” Schueller said.

(ABC 6 News) – A 28-year-old Fredericksburg, Iowa man suffered serious injuries after falling 40 feet from the edge of a Byron quarry Tuesday.

At about 10:59 a.m. Sept. 13, Olmsted County deputies, Byron first responders, and Mayo Clinic were dispatched to the 11,000 block of County Road 25 SW, where Olmsted Aggregate is based, for a report that a drill operator fell 40 feet down a quarry wall and hit his head.

When deputies arrived, they reported that the patient was laying among large rocks, and had suffered what looked like a fractured skull, broken leg, large cut on the back of his head, and had a swollen eye and several teeth knocked out, Capt. James Schueller said.

Deputies reported that the patient was “breathing and moaning,” but did not respond otherwise to people at the scene.

Mayo Clinic responders administered care, called for a helicopter, then determined that overground transport would be faster and drove him to St. Marys Hospital.

Schueller said there were no direct witnesses to the fall, but deputies discovered that the man had fallen onto a five-foot-tall rock pile at the base of the wall, where it appeared the victim hit head-first.

The patient’s condition is unknown at this time.