Dirt bike rider injured in dune crash.

#OceanaCountyNews #SilverLake

GOLDEN TOWNSHIP — A 34-year-old Big Rapids man operating a dirt bike at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes was transported by ambulance to an area hospital Tuesday evening, Sept. 13, following a crash.

Aeromed was initially was dispatched to airlift Derek Alan Zwiers, but the helicopter could not land due to a storm rolling in.

“They were called, but could not land when they got there due to the storm moving in,” stated Oceana County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Craig Mast. Zwiers, who suffered “possible back and neck injuries,” was transported by ambulance to Hackley Hospital in Muskegon, Mast said. It was his first time riding at the Silver Lake State Park, he said.

He was traveling south between Test Hill and Mount Baldy and “struck a rut going uphill,” the lieutenant said. Zwiers was ejected from his dirt bike; hit the ground; “summersaulted end-for-end”; and came to rest back in the sand.