FREAK ACCIDENT: AA 72-year-old man was injured yesterday when he was crushed between his ute and a 12-tonne front end loader at Spring Ridge. Photo: Robert Chappel 110313RCD01
A 72-YEAR-OLD man was flown to Tamworth hospital in a serious condition yesterday after a freak accident at Spring Ridge.
The man is believed to have been loading a ute at 3pm when he was crushed between the vehicle and a front end loader on the outskirts of Spring Ridge just after 3pm.
Paramedics stabilised the man at the scene before he was flown by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter to the Tamworth hospital.
Acting Sergeant Adam Hitchen from Quirindi, who was first on the scene of the accident, said the farmer was a “very lucky man”.
Sergeant Hitchen said the farmer was on his property attempting to lift a piece of old farm equipment off the tray of his utility with a 12-tonne front end loader when the mishap occurred.
“He hopped down from the tractor with it still running and in neutral and the tractor has moved forward just a little and pinned him,” Sergeant Hitchen said.
“He could have died, if the tractor had been on a hill or it had crept forward any more.”
The man luckily had his mobile phone in his pocket and rang for help.
“Modern technology saved him,” Sergeant Hitchen said.
Two staff members from a nearby school came over and backed up the tractor, freeing the man.
“He was talking and conscious throughout the whole ordeal,” he said. The ambulance officers were confident the man would make a full recovery, he said.