Hey folks, it’s Amie.
Iowa Republicans assured us, when they passed a law opening up more kinds of dangerous work for Iowa children, that it was Actually A Good Thing. Kids would learn more trades! Iowa would get more workers! There wouldn’t be a downside!
The 17-year-old who lost two fingers in a log splitter might have something to say about that.
Clayton Killian was 17 in July of 2021 when he was working with a log splitter at Central Iowa Firewood in Tama, and severed two of his fingers.
In a lawsuit against the company, Killian says he did not have training on the log splitter, nor was he authorized to even work at a logging operation. In addition, Killian says the owner of the company didn’t call an ambulance and personally drove Killian to a Des Moines hospital 70 miles away, where he was then life-flighted to a different hospital, 70 miles in the other direction. This delay, the suit argues, meant it became too late to reattach Killian’s fingers.
In his response, owner Luke Squires claims Central Iowa Firewood was not a “logging operation,” and that Killian was using the log splitter without Squires’ “knowledge or permission.” Squires also said he only took Killian to the hospital himself because Killian’s mom wanted him to.
