MAQUOKETA – Ramping a speeding pickup through a camper to the delight of onlookers may have seemed like a cool stunt at this Iowa speedway, but things didn’t go as planned for the young driver.
According to the Iowa State Patrol, during an event at the Jackson county fairgrounds in Maquoketa, Iowa, a 2006 Chevy Silverado pickup truck driven by 21-year-old Matthew J. Blinks of Lisbon, Iowa, was set to perform a stunt. He was to attempt to jump the vehicle through a camper at the Maquoketa speedway. However, the pickup collided with the camper and Blinks lost consciousness. The pickup then continued forward after the collision, off the track, across a highway and came to rest after striking a residential shed.
As a result of the accident, Blinks, who was wearing a seatbelt, was extricated from the pickup and airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals with undisclosed injuries.