Whitefish trio hurt in road accident
Three Whitefish residents, including city council member Bill Kahle, were seriously injured when their pickup truck went off the road on Saturday, Oct. 9, and rolled several times, ejecting all three.
According to e-mail accounts and a Web site created by family members, Bill Kahle, his son Scott and their friend Kevin Duff were transported to Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, where they were being treated for serious injuries.
Bill Kahle had a broken pelvis, a few fractured transversal vertebrae bones, a nickel-sized brain contusion, broken glass in the side of his face and a sliced ear.
Scott Kahle had a collapsed lung, facial scrapes, a tear on his spleen and a fractured vertebra. Specialists at the hospital said the fracture likely would heal by itself, but he would have to wear a neck brace for about three months and won’t be racing for the Whitefish Mountain Resort Ski Team this year.
Kevin Duff, a Whitefish attorney, suffered several broken ribs, two collapsed lungs, major internal bleeding and two broken bones in his left arm and wrist.
The three left Whitefish on Friday in a Ford 150 pickup with another friend Doug Reed to do some bird hunting in Eastern Montana. They met another friend, Morton Steenstrup, in Chester.
The next day, the Kahles and Duff departed in the pickup, with Scott, a 15-year-old freshman at Whitefish High School, driving. Reed and Steenstrup were in a Jeep. Three hunting dogs were in the pickup’s bed, which had a topper.
After hunting all morning, they stopped at a block-management hunting site about 2:15 p.m. and then headed east on a paved road.
According to a preliminary investigation by the Montana Highway Patrol, the pickup was going about 53 mph when a tire went off the right side of the road. Scott Kahle steered left to get the truck back on the road and then overcorrected back to the right, causing the pickup to roll.
Reed and Steenstrup hurried back to the wreck and found the three had been thrown about 40 feet from the vehicle. None were wearing seat belts. The three dogs were walking around the wreckage. Unable to contact 911, Reed drove about 400 yards to a nearby farm house where he got through to emergency services.
The Kahles and Duff were conscious but in severe pain.
For the next 30 minutes, Reed and Steenstrup concentrated on restricting the victims’ movement, keeping airways clear and trying to prevent them from going into shock.
Two ambulances transported the three about 25 miles to a hospital in Conrad. Shortly afterwards, Duff was airlifted to Great Falls while the Kahles were transported to the same hospital by ambulance.
Family members and close friends quickly gathered in Great Falls, including Bill Kahle’s parents, John and Helen Kahle, and Duff’s father, Dale.