Motorcyclist Airlifted after Colliding with Deer Near Anamosa

A motorcyclist was airlifted to the hospital after colliding with a deer in Linn County on Sunday morning.

It happened southwest of Anamosa on Highway 151 just north of Quaker Lane shortly before 10:30 am. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office says Sheriff’s deputies and Rescue responded to the scene, along with Anamosa Police, Mount Vernon/Lisbon Police, Springville Fire Department and Anamosa Ambulance and UIHC Air Care. Emergency crews discovered a motorcycle in the median, with the driver, 44-year old Jason Waddell of Marion, near his motorcycle conscious and breathing. 

The Sheriff’s Office says an investigation, along with witness statements, revealed that Waddell’s motorcycle was southbound on Highway 151 and had just passed Linn Jones Road when a deer entered the road in front of him. Waddell’s motorcycle hit the deer and entered the middle median, but stayed in control until it hit an access crossing in the median – causing the motorcycle to flip, ejecting Waddell from the motorcycle. 

Waddell was taken by ambulance to a designated landing area in Springville, where Air Care transported him to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics with what authorities believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

photo courtesy of Linn County Sheriff’s Office