By Shavonne Potts
Salisbury Post
LANDIS ó An employee at Parkdale Mills Plant No. 23 suffered a severe head injury Monday morning after being hit by a 200-pound steel door.
The 62-year-old southern Rowan County man, whose name authorities had not released Monday afternoon, was working around 11 a.m. at the the mill’s waste house, where waste cotton is compacted into bales for recycling.
He was working near a compactor machine when a weld broke.
“The door flew open and hit him on the side of the head,” Landis Fire Chief Reed Linn said.
The man had severe head trauma, but was conscious the entire time.
Authorities said the 200-pound, 2-inch-thick door measured 3 feet by 3 feet.
Rescue workers called Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast. The CMC helicopter landed in the Corriher ball field and took the man to the hospital.
Parkdale Mills Plant No. 23 is the former Linn Mill.
In addition to Landis Fire Department, Rowan Emergency Services and Kannapolis Fire Department responded.
Kannapolis established a landing zone at the ball field, Linn said.
Contact Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253 or spotts@salisburypost.com.