Child airlifted after ATV crash in Renville County

A child was airlifted after an ATV crash near Sacred Heart Sunday.

The crash happened just before 11 a.m. at a residence on the 79000 block of Co Rd 9, approximately four miles south of Sacred Heart.

The Renville County Sheriff’s Office says 40-year-old Rodney Garberich, of rural Sacred Heart was cleaning trees and branches along a path in a nearby grove with a four-year-old family member just before the crash.

The child was reportedly sitting on the ATV, and when Garberich mounted the vehicle, the juvenile accidentally hit the throttle, causing the ATV to accelerate forward according to the sheriff’s news release.  The ATV hit a nearby tree and rolled onto its side causing Garberich and the child to fall off.

Investigators say the juvenile sustained a deep cut to the abdomen and was flown to Children’s Hospital in the Twin Cities with believed non-life threatening injuries.

Garberich was treated at the scene for minor injuries.