Daughter says severely injured deputy on a long road to recovery
By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
A Walworth County Sheriff’s Deputy is set to undergo numerous surgeries on a long road to recovery after being struck by a vehicle in the early hours of Aug. 1.
A 20-plus year veteran of the sheriff’s department and former officer in Burlington, Wayne Blanchard, suffered critical injuries while preparing to deploy a tire deflation device on Highway 120 north of Kniep Road in an attempt to stop a vehicle fleeing police at a high rate of speed. The driver of the vehicle, 25-year-old Tony Perales, lost control and struck the guardrail Blanchard had taken a position behind.
Beckett Runge, Blanchard’s daughter, hasn’t been able to see her father since the crash because of COVID protocols at the hospital, though she has been in close contact with her grandmother and stepmother to keep close tabs on Blanchard’s condition.
Despite the extent of Blanchard’s injuries, Runge said there is no brain trauma or internal bleeding – a real blessing.
“It’s a miracle,” she said, noting his bulletproof vest saved him. “I mean, he was ejected from his boots. He was hit so hard that his boots were still laced up.”
To read the full version of this story, pick up a copy of this week’s Delavan Enterprise, Elkhorn Independent, East Troy News, East Troy Times, Genoa City Report, Lake Geneva Times, Sharon Reporter, Walworth Times, Whitewater Register and other area Southern Lakes Newspapers’ publications.
