BY MARY JANE FARMER

HERALD DEMOCRAT

Two highway workers remain in critical condition after being struck Monday morning by a vehicle inside a highway construction zone.

Texas Department of Transportation employee William Duty went into a coma and hasn't yet come out of it, and TxDOT contractor Vessels Construction, Inc. employee Johnny Vick has undergone surgery. Both men are at Parkland Hospital.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Sammy Bryant said Duty and Vick were standing near a guardrail in the FM 902 construction zone near Collinsville, getting ready for their day's work. Other highway workers were also getting ready to start the day, some as flaggers and others at various other duties. About 9 a.m., a pickup driven by Michael Whisenant of Whitesboro rounded a corner.

TxDOT Assistant Area Engineer Noel Paramanantham said it was his understanding that Vick was standing, facing the approaching pickup and that Duty's back was to it. Vick grabbed Duty's arm, trying to pull them both over the guardrail to safety. They took only one step when the pickup struck them and knocked them both about 30 feet, Bryant said. 

Emergency medical services had Duty and Vick flown by air ambulance to the Dallas hospital.

Bryant said that his information is that Whisenant, possibly for a medical reason, temporarily blacked out behind the wheel.

Paramanantham said that he has been told that Duty's reactions are improving, even in his coma, and gave such examples as Duty's having moved his head when his wife called his name several times. Duty is also breathing on his own.

"They (doctors) are calling these 'promising reactions,'" Paramanantham said. He added that Duty, who has been with TxDOT for five years, does have a compound fracture and a broken back, according to the doctor.

Vessels Construction Inc.'s Kay Vessels said that Vick is in stable condition, but he is "hurt very bad." He had to go back into surgery lately, following a complication. Vessels said that Vick has been employed with that company for three years.

"He's a good employee, and he has a wonderful family. This is a really bad situation," Vessels said.

For some TxDOT employees, the men's injuries bring back the pain they experienced about a year and a half ago when their co-worker Delbert Gann died after being struck by a vehicle while on the job.

Paramanantham said TxDOT's employee assistance program provides counselors during such dire circumstances.

Vessels said that it's all "very unfortunate," and that they don't often think about being seriously injured on the job.

"It's not something that ever happens to us, somebody getting hurt like this, Vessels said. "This is not common, thank goodness. It's not a situation you would ever expect or anticipate."