STANTON COUNTY - A Winside youth is in critical condition following an accident in Stanton County Friday evening.

The Stanton County Sheriff's Office says the accident took place on Highway 15 about five miles south of Pilger around 5:25 PM. 69-year-old Douglas Nelson of Wayne was driving a pickup, and using a flatbed trailer to move a section of irrigation pipe, with an older pickup attached behind the pipe to steer its rear end.

The trailing, steering pickup had its passenger side wheels go off the roadway and it veered across the highway, coming unattached from the irrigation pipe and striking an embankment in the west ditch.

The impact caused the cab of that pickup to come loose from its chassis, and the cab rolled into a private driveway, ejecting its steering operator through the windshield onto the ground.

17-year-old Colton Navrkal of Winside was treated at the scene by Pilger Fire and Rescue, and was transported by LifeNet to a Sioux City trauma center. The accident remains under investigation, and Highway 15 was closed for over an hour before the scene was cleared.