By Jon Mayhew, Editor
jonm@lincolntribune.com

DENVER -- A Lincoln County Schools employee is airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte after a bus falls on him while he's changing a tire at East Lincoln Middle School. Firefighters from Pumpkin Center and East Lincoln, along with Lincoln Rescue and EMS and Lincoln County Schools officials, responded to the school around 1:23 p.m. Thursday.

School officials identified the worker as Chris Duschel. Firefighters say when they arrived on the scene, Duschel was already out from under the bus.

Chris Duschel is being placed on Med Center Air, the helicopter for Carolinas Medical Center in CHarlotte. Duschel suffered serious injuries after a school bus fell on him while he was changing a tire.

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Firefighters and paramedics prepare to take Chris Duschel from the ambulance to the Med Center Air chopper, which landed on the front lawn of East Lincoln Middle School.

Duschel was changing the back left tire on bus 108 when the bus became unstable. He suffered a broken arm and bruising around his chest area. Officials said Duschel suffered internal injuries.

Upon arrival at CMC, Duschel was taken into surgery and as of Thursday night is in the Intensive Care Unit. A source said Duschel had to have a large part of his colon removed due to lacerations. He also suffered fractured ribs and vertebrae as well as the broken arm.

Lincoln County Schools transportation director Eric Eaker is investigating what exactly happened to cause the incident. Eaker did not have any comments for the media.

According to school officials, Eaker is over 113 school busses in the Lincoln County Schools. Workers routinely check busses physically and mechanically to ensure safety when transporting most of the system's 12,000-plus students.