Hayfield man dies in car rollover

Published 11:48 am Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A rural Hayfield man died Tuesday morning, presumably from medical complications, after his car rolled onto its drivers side in a ditch near Hayfield.

Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi said Dean Leonard Paape, 79, was buckled into his seatbelt and unresponsive when Gold Cross, deputies and the Brownsdale Fire Department responded to the scene around 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Gold Cross paramedics attempted to revive Paape before he was transported to Austin Medical Center by ambulance. He was pronounced dead at AMC.

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Amazi said paramedics discovered that the man had a defibrillator implant. Since the tire tracks went straight into the ditch and there was no visible trauma, Paape likely rolled his car because of a medical complication that occurred while he was driving.

A driver who came across the rolled Buick called 911. Amazi said it appeared the call came in shortly after the accident took place.