Still Unconscious But Condition Improved Last Night
Shirley Zivney, 34, co-owner of the Minonk Dairy Products, milk processing firm, was critically injured when his airplane crashed in a plowed field near Pittsburg, Kans., at about 8:15 o'clock last Monday night,Jan. 19.
Zivney, who was enroute to Minonk from Dallas, Texas, is now in Mount Carmel hospital, at Pittsburg, Kans. He had not yet regained consciousness last night (Wednesday), but it is reported that he is beginning to show signs of recovery, and doctors say he is seventy-five per cent better.
Mr. Zivney was very severely injured in the plane crash, sustaining multiple skull fractures, a compound fracture of the hard pallate,a fractured jaw, loss of a number of teeth, broken ribs and a crushed chest, a broken left arm above the elbow, and a broken right ankle.
His wife, Shirley, and brother, Ray Zivney, had Robert L.Wilcox drive them to Kansas and they will remain there until he is completely out of danger. Mr. Wilcox is returning home on the train.
Ray Zivney called home last night (Wednesday) and reported that his brother is beginning to show signs of regaining consciousness, as he moves his head and hand in response to questions, but he was not yet able to talk.
Mr. Zivney had been in Dallas, Texas, on a business trip, and he started home Monday with the intention of stopping at Little Rock.Ark., before dark. However, bad weather developed, and the Little Rock airport radio towerman turned him away. He turned back west, and at Fayetteville, near the Arkansas-Oklahoma state lines, the FAA operators said the clouds were too low to try to get him down there.
He then headed for Joplin, Mo., but missed it. It was getting darker all the time, and visibility was poor, only a couple of hundred feet. He was in communication with various airports all the time, and finally spotted a place to land near Pittsburg, Kans. By that time, however, his airplane ran out of gas, came down and crashed in the plowed field.
He did not hit a tree, as first reported. Since he had been in contact with airports right up to the time of the crash, they were able to send out medical services immediately. Their quick arrival on the scene saved his life. The plane was so badly wrecked, and Zivney was so entangled with the wreckage, that they had to use a torch to cut it to get him out.
Wilcox, who has been in Kansas with Zivney's wife and brother, arrived in Streator on the Santa Fe this morning. He talked with the News-Dispatch by telephone and confirmed the facts about the accident and Zivney's injuries stated above. He still has a problem about getting home,since the first car that went to meet him at Streator, got stuck in the snow.
Mr. Zivney is an experienced and competent airplane pilot. He and his older brother, Ray, and their father, Art Zivney, have greatly increased and expanded the business and territorial operations of the Minonk Dairy Products Co.