A 52-year-old Lomira man has died from injuries suffered when his motorcycle struck a wall at Milwaukee’s Zoo Interchange, days after his family made the decision to donate his organs. Michael J. Peterson was riding with a passenger through the interchange on July 15 when he lost control, and neither he nor his passenger survived the crash unscathed.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a review of video by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office showed Peterson and his passenger were thrown from the motorcycle after it struck a wall, then slid several feet across the pavement. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, the outlet reported. The crash occurred around 7 p.m. on the system ramp connecting southbound Interstate 41 to eastbound Interstate 94, and it prompted the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to close the ramp for nearly three hours while its Reconstruction Unit mapped the scene, according to CBS 58.
Peterson suffered a subdural hematoma, skull fractures, rib fractures, pulmonary contusions, and internal bleeding, per the Journal Sentinel’s report. He underwent surgery and was admitted to the surgical intensive care unit at Froedtert Hospital, where he was pronounced brain dead on July 17. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office listed his cause of death as an accident.
Family Consents to Organ Donation
With Peterson’s condition beyond recovery, his family consented to organ donation on July 17. His heart, lungs, liver and kidneys were donated, according to the medical examiner’s report cited by the Journal Sentinel. His passenger, a 42-year-old woman, was also critically injured in the crash and transported to Froedtert Hospital alongside Peterson; her current condition has not been reported…