Crash kills 11-year-old son of Pa. Turnpike worker on Take Your Child to Work Day
The 11-year-old son of a Pennsylvania Turnpike employee who died in a crash was accompanying his father during an unofficial Take Your Child to Work Day visit, officials said Friday.
PITTSBURGH — The 11-year-old son of a Pennsylvania Turnpike employee who died in a crash was accompanying his father during an unofficial Take Your Child to Work Day visit, officials said Friday.
Hayden Field, of Connellsville, was killed when his father’s pickup truck rear-ended a tractor-trailer about 2 p.m. Thursday in the eastbound lanes of the turnpike in Mount Pleasant, according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office.
Jerry Lucia, chief of Mount Pleasant’s volunteer fire department, said Hayden had gone to work with his father, Harvey “Denny” Field, an employee of the Turnpike Commission.
The Coroner's Office said Hayden was pronounced dead at the scene.
“His son was trapped in the pickup truck they drove, and we had to extricate him,” Lucia said.
Hayden’s father was ejected through the windshield, Lucia said, and was taken to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh.
“He had surgery last night, and I believe it was a head injury,” Lucia said. His condition had not been released.
A person in the tractor-trailer was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital, said Turnpike Commission spokeswoman Renee Colburn. She did not know the extent of that person’s injuries.
Rosanne Placey, another spokeswoman for the commission, said Field began working for the turnpike in July 2011 and is stationed at the Donegal maintenance facility. The commission does not host formal Take Your Child to Work Day events at field locations or maintenance facilities, she said.
“We believe that Harvey had taken a day off to show his son — who also was off school for the day — where he works,” she said.
“We await information on how we may best serve Denny and his family and care for their needs at this time,” Placey said.
Lucia, the fire chief, said part of Field’s job was to respond to incident calls that fire departments also go out on.
“I knew him because we answer fire and rescue calls on that part of the turnpike, so I’m used to talking to him,” Lucia said. “He was called a first responder, so he would come out with a pickup truck and size up the situation and take it from there on what equipment he would need.”
What caused the crash remained under investigation.
Hayden was a student at Connellsville Area Middle School, according to school district officials.
“Our community is in shock over this tragedy and the loss of such a vibrant young life,” Bryan Kisiel, president of the Connellsville Area school board, said Friday afternoon.
District Superintendent Joseph Bradley released the following statement: “We extend our sympathy and condolences to the family. Our thoughts, prayers, and support are with them.”