Boy In Coma Following Crash Brother’s Car Skids On Ice, Then Hits Jacked-Up Pickup

A 14-year-old Harrison, Idaho, boy remained in a coma Monday with massive head injuries after the car he was riding in collided with a jacked-up pickup truck.

Andy J. Giesbrecht, a freshman at Kootenai High School, was riding in his brother’s car Sunday when it slid on an icy road into the big truck.

Although it appears the pickup driver did not break any laws, Idaho State Police officers said the collision is an example of why they helped draft a bill calling for a limit on the height of jacked-up trucks.

Cpl. Sean Daly said he suspects Andy Giesbrecht would not have been injured so severely had the truck been at the manufacturer’s height.

The truck, driven by Kenneth V. Woempner, 26, of Harrison, had a 32-inch-high bumper. The bumper smashed into the windshield and hit the youth, said ISP Cpl. Chris Schenck.

Still, the boy’s father said he does not blame the driver.

“He saved both of my boys’ lives,” said Brian Giesbrecht. Woempner pulled the two boys from the mangled car after it caught fire as a result of the collision, Brian Giesbrecht said.

The Giesbrecht family had gone out for lunch Sunday afternoon. Afterward, Andy and his brother Dan Giesbrecht, 18, drove home separately from their parents in Dan’s car.

Both teens were wearing seat belts as they headed west on Burma Road. Dan Giesbrecht was driving up a hill and around a curve when he lost control of the 1994 Ford Escort on the icy roadway, Cpl. Schenck said.

Brian Giesbrecht said the road was so slick that an ambulance later would slide down the hill as paramedics tried to load one of his sons on board.

The boys’ car slid into eastbound traffic, where Woempner was driving the truck with his wife Katrina and 19-month-old son Bryce as passengers.

Dan “said he looked up and he saw this big ol’ 4-by-4 pickup truck coming at him,” Brian Giesbrecht said. “He aimed the car for the ditch but he didn’t quite make it.”

“The bumper of the pickup met the car at the top of the windshield,” said ISP Cpl. Chris Schenck. “The car submarined underneath it.”

After the accident, smoke began pouring out of the wrecked car where the two teens lay unconscious, Brian Giesbrecht said he was told by witnesses.

Woempner tried to douse the flames with snow but wasn’t able to. Instead, he pulled the two boys out of the burning car, Giesbrecht said.

“I don’t believe either one of these parties were at fault,” the father said. “I feel very sorry for the guy that was driving the truck.”

Giesbrecht said, however, he does believe there should be regulations on how high trucks may ride.

“I would have never thought about it until something like this,” he said.

A bill currently before the state Senate would require that front truck bumpers be no higher than 24 inches - eight inches lower than Woempner’s bumper.

Cpl. Daly said that when trucks are jacked too high, their bumpers no longer prevent damage during an accident. Instead, the other car often is pushed underneath the larger truck.

Woempner and his wife were treated and released from the hospital Sunday. Their infant son was not injured, according to the ISP report. Dan Giesbrecht also was treated and released.

Andy Giesbrecht was listed in critical condition at Kootenai Medical Center’s intensive care unit. He has severe damage to his head and face, along with a broken leg and arm, Brian Giesbrecht said.

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