IDNR Report

Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating a tree stand accident that occurred yesterday afternoon in LaGrange County.

At approximately 3:30 p.m., officers responded to the 3500 block of West State Road 120 for a person seriously injured.

Upon arrival, officers discovered that Lyndon J. Slabach, 36, of Middlebury, had been removing a hang-on style tree stand from private property when the cables supporting the stand broke. 

Slabach, who was alone and not wearing a safety harness, fell approximately 17 feet to the ground but was able to access his cellphone to call a relative, who then called 911. 

Slabach was treated on scene by first responders and then airlifted by Parkview Samaritan to Parkview Regional Medical Center in serious condition with injuries to his legs.

Conservation Officers were assisted at the scene by the LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department, Lima Township Fire Rescue, and Parkview LaGrange Ambulance.

With deer hunting seasons approaching, Conservation Officers remind everyone using elevated platforms to always wear a full body harness, use a tree stand’s safety rope, never try to put up or remove a tree stand by working alone, and to always inspect their tree stand before climbing up into it.