Emergency personnel responded shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday to an ATV accident involving a 20-year-old Waterloo man off in a field near the area of 3600 Maus Road in Fults.

The victim, Wyatt Dugan, suffered serious head and skull injuries in the crash and the Maeystown Fire Department joined Monroe County EMS in setting up a landing zone for a Survival Flight medical helicopter to respond. Dugan was airlifted to Saint Louis University Hospital, where he remains in the intensive care unit.

Dugan’s mother, Lori Weltig, said her son, a 2013 Waterloo High School graduate, was riding four-wheelers with friends and ventured out one more time for the evening by himself. Fortunately, a neighbor in the area, Todd Yearian, was heading out to fish when he heard a loud noise, saw an ATV rotating end-over-end in the air and heard cries for help. Yearian soon found Dugan severely injured in a tall grassy area and called for help.

“Praise God that guy was out fishing at that time,” Weltig told the Republic-Times. “Who knows how long Wyatt would have been out there otherwise?”

Weltig also praised the quick response of EMS personnel and firefighters to get her son airlifted to the hospital.

The crash victim’s family has set up a GoFundMe account to assist with current and future expenses. To view and/or contribute, click here.

An account has also been set up at all First National Bank of Waterloo locations. Those wishing to contribute can make checks payable to “Friends of Wyatt Dugan.”