Brittany Horn

The News Journal

A man and a woman were injured Sunday when a trap door on an air cannon flew off at Punkin Chunkin.

The woman was critically injured and remains hospitalized at Christiana Medical Center.

This is the first Punkin Chunkin after a two-year hiatus after another injury suspended the Bridgeville event.

Delaware's world famous Punkin Chunkin, back after a 2-year hiatus prompted by an accident and lawsuit, turned dangerous Sunday afternoon when an air cannon firing a pumpkin broke apart, injuring a man and a woman, according to Delaware State Police.

The 39-year-old woman, who state police initially reported had died, is listed in critical condition at Christiana Hospital in Stanton.

Judges had already seen about 10 air cannons fire pumpkins more than 3,000 feet using compressed air when the trap door of the air cannon named Punkin Reaper flew off when it fired shortly before 2:40 p.m. Sunday. As people were running away from the cannon, which sent large pieces of material into the air in all directions, a person was struck in the head and face at the event's site, Wheatley Farms in Bridgeville.

The woman lay motionless as paramedics and emergency responders rushed to her.

Paramedics were called to the scene, where many spectators and participants stood in shock, to offer the woman further treatment. She was treated at the event grounds before she was taken to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital, said Master Cpl. Jeffrey Hale, a spokesman for Delaware State Police.

She was then stabilized and flown by LifeNet Helicopter to Christiana Medical Center, where she remains in critical condition, according to Hale.

Kerry Collias, who had just gotten to Punkin Chunkin when the incident occurred, saw the air cannon malfunction and the aftermath up close. The cannon, Punkin Reaper, is registered to 21-year-old Will Schell, the grandson of Dominick Daffner, who said Saturday he and his grandsons were competing against each other in the event. Daffner is a longtime Milton resident.

Shortly after the incident, as organizers were asking people to clear out, they announced over the loudspeaker that they had taken a woman to Nanticoke Hospital and asked attendees to pray for her, Collias said.

A 56-year-old man was also injured in the explosion. He received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital, Hale said.

Event grounds to the pumpkin catapults and devices were closed off while police responded to the accident. The injury occurred in an area open only to team members, staff members and media – the public was stationed behind a fence farther away but were able to see the entire scene. The Science Channel, set to air a three-hour program on the event the Saturday after Thanksgiving, also had a large crew within the gated portion of the event, documenting the three-day festival.

A state police helicopter landed in the fields to aid paramedics and multiple ambulances at the scene.

This year marked the return of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin after a two-year hiatus.

A lawsuit filed in 2013 by a former Punkin Chunkin volunteer effectively grounded the event the past two years. The lawsuit was filed by Daniel Fair, a former Punkin Chunkin "spotter," or volunteer who rode around the grounds helping determine the distance pumpkins traveled from their machines.

Fair's complaint alleged Wheatley Farms Inc., the owner of the property, and Punkin Chunkin Association were liable for a spinal injury he suffered when the ATV he was riding flipped.

The lawsuit was dismissed in June 2015.

"The parties mutually agreed to resolve the matter," Stephen A. Hampton, the attorney representing Fair, told The News Journal in 2015.

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During the off years, officials debated moving the event from its Bridgeville home to an area near Dover Downs Hotel & Casino and even considered taking it out of state, eyeing multiple Maryland locations. The event also struggled to obtain insurance.

Renewed excitement

This year's return had garnered support and excitement from both the local and national community, with more than 100 participants coming from across the country to compete.

Corey Winesburg, who oversaw the building and launch of top-placing trebuchet Colossal Thunder, drove 23 hours to compete in the Sussex County tradition. The high school welding teacher brought six students with him from Northeast Technology Center in Afton, Oklahoma, and launched a pumpkin 2,625 feet.

"For a bunch of high school students to take down a bunch of engineers, that's pretty awesome," Winesburg said. His group, which works to improve the trebuchet – a launcher that resembles something out of the Middle Ages – first competed in the youth division but moved up to adult after soaring over the competition. They had the farthest launch Sunday in the trebuchet division.

Alex Killough had never heard of Punkin Chunkin before taking Winesburg's class. The 18-year-old, however, quickly learned of the nationally acclaimed event that takes up much of his class's time for the first half of the school year. Delaware, he said, is considered the big show for those serious about chunking.

"Holy man, it's awesome," Killough said. "My mom is awestruck of how far we've come."

Others, like John Penuel, have been chunkin' for 26 years and counting, outfitting a school bus to help his team of lifelong friends launch pumpkins far into Delaware fields. His air cannon Yasky has made an appearance at every Punkin Chunkin since its second year, he said.

The team fired their longest shot Sunday afternoon at a whopping 3,180 feet in the air cannon division, but Penuel attributed the good luck to his 11-year-old daughter Lily. She attended her first Punkin Chunkin at 1 month old, so spending a weekend firing gourds is in her DNA, according to her family.

"She's the pumpkin kisser," her father said with a smile. "Our longest shot of the week and she fired it."

The events quickly wrapped to a close Sunday afternoon following the air cannon malfunction. Further information was not released by Punkin Chunkin officials and comment from event organizers was not immediately available.

Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn.