My mom, Reagan and I set out early to get our walk in. After that, we were going to hit a couple greenhouses in Columbiana to get the rest of our flowers.
We both decided to drive, so we could load up both cars with posies. Reagan wanted to ride with her Nana, so I followed in my car, jamming to the new Lady Antebellum.
It was a picture perfect day for a drive, 80 and sunny! It's always nice driving through Columbiana and enjoy the scenery. Even the tractors crossing the road, with NO drivers, is something to see! Wait, what!? Oh yea, THAT happened!
My mom was leading, because I wasn't quite sure how to get there. We were driving down Lisbon Road, when a tractor crossed the road in front of my mom. It wasn't in any danger of hitting her, but it was close enough that she slowed down. The tractor came to a stop, not quite clearing the road, when we realized it hit a telephone pole. It was even kind of uneven in a ditch. As we slowly passed, we finally realized there was NO DRIVER! We stopped both cars and kind of glanced under the tractor and nothing.
My mom, finally looked over in the field and WAY, like literally, two football fields off in the distance, you could see a blue lump laying there! My mom screamed, "call 911!" I fumbled for my phone, dialed 911, and took off for the field. I had NO IDEA what I would find. Would he be OK, dead, without limbs? I just ran! I got up to him and his eyes were kind of open, but he wasn't moving. I was on the phone with 911 and the dispatcher was like, "where are you?" Then it hit me, I have NO FREAKING IDEA WHERE I AM! I'm holding the phone, screaming at the top of my lungs to my mom, who is with Reagan at the cars, "What road is this!?" Her being all frazzled as well, couldn't quite think of it either. Finally, another couple stopped, got out and yelled, "Lisbon road!"
While the dispatcher was doing their thing, I kept trying to talk to the man. I was saying, "Sir, are you OK!?" FINALLY, he started moving and moaning. He had some pretty bad gashes all over him, and his jeans and shirt looked like they went through a shredder. The inside of his mouth looked like it was bleeding, and, he was COVERED in dust, just a total mess! I felt HORRIBLE!
I just kept saying, "Sir, are you OK? Can you tell me where we are? You need to help me, help them find you!?" He finally replied, "I don't know where I am?" Ay, yi, yi!
I go back to talking to the dispatcher, trying to help them find us somewhere on Lisbon Road. After what felt like 5 minutes, which it was really less than a minute, I yelled, "What's that house number!?" I couldn't hear my mom, nor the other couple, so I begged that man, "SIR, PLEASE, where are we? I don't know where I am. We need to get you help!" He FINALLY mumbled, "corner of Lisbon and Garfield." I thought, THANK FREAKING GOD!
Not two minutes later, I heard the wonderful sound of sirens. I just kept trying to talk to him while we waited. The poor thing was just continuously moaning. I just kept trying to reassure him, "Sir, you look OK. You have some bad cuts, but you are going to be OK. I hear the sirens now. They are coming! You are going to be OK!"
I think once he started coming out of his utter shock, heard the sirens and just hearing that he was going to be OK, he finally started talking a little bit. I asked him, "Oh my goodness, what happened to you?" He finally said, "the seat broke off the tractor. I fell and the damn thing ran me over." I just said again, "You are going to be OK!" He mumbled in between moans, "I can't believe I'm not dead." My heart just broke!
I did notice, now that I'm just standing there waiting for the sirens to get closer, that there was in fact, a huge seat laying in the field. Which ironically, he actually asked, "Can you get that seat so I can lay my head on it?" I said, "SURE!" I go to get the seat and the freaking thing LITERALLY weighed 50 pounds or more. So now, I'm trying to drag this seat, while still holding my cell phone, over to the man to put his head on it. While he is still just laying there, moaning and moving around. I asked, "Do you live here, is there a house I can let someone know what happened?" He said, "I work here, not live."
All of a sudden, a huge white pickup truck came barreling into the field. A guy jumps out and said, "Jack, what happened!?" The poor guy barely knew where he was five minutes ago. He was still moaning, so I chimed in and said, "He said the seat fell off....." I literally got that much out, when the pickup truck guy, threw both his hands up and yelled, "STOP! I'm talking to HIM!" I simply said, "You're welcome" and started my journey back to the car. I wasn't back up to the road and the ambulance and firetrucks were heading into the field.
I'm guessing that was the boss man. He was probably crapping his pants thinking "lawsuit." The pickup truck guy, had to have a scanner or something, the way he FLEW into that field before the EMTs even got there. It just seemed too weird.
I feel bad, looking back now, that I let the pickup truck guy get to me. I just walked away after he yelled. I wish I would have said something else to Jack before I left. Oh well.
Anyway, my mom and I stayed for a few minutes to see if they needed anything and no one came up to us. I was telling my mom about my "field trip" and we were checking out the tractor. Looking at the machine that ran him over, it is a MIRACLE that he IS alive, and wasn't hurt worse than he was.
It was an unbelievable experience! I haven't stopped thinking about him this whole day.
I was still kind of in shock myself, that I never even thought of the news. Later in the afternoon, I checked my WKBN app to see if they had the story. Sure enough, it was on there. I called the newsroom and asked them if they wanted my pictures, since there weren't any in the story on the app. I got to talk to an old friend, Jason, who said, "sure." They ended up using the few pictures I took on the news at 5 & 6.
Jim and I are both used to being around the news, and preparing the news, being we both worked at WKBN. I just never thought, I would be INVOLVED in an actual news story! It was really something and not anything I want to experience again!
Poor Jack is lucky we saw the tractor hit the pole. It was off the road far enough and close enough to a house, that people passing by, may have thought it belonged to that house. They may have just kept going. Jack, himself, was so far in the field that you could BARELY make out "the lump," let alone, see it was a person. It was horrible. He could have been there all day and no one would have known. There was only one other car that actually stopped, during the whole fiasco, besides the mean pickup truck guy. Those two people walked down into the field long enough to hear me get yelled at, then turned around. I can't believe no one else stopped!
The news reports said that he was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital and was in serious condition. I would give anything to know how he's doing, where he lives, and what his full name is. I would love to send him a little flower or something. I just feel so bad!
My mom and I just tried to continue on our day to the greenhouse. We went to one and then decided it was time for lunch and an icy cold beer to calm the nerves.
I just pray that he's OK and makes a full, speedy recovery.
I will be thinking about him everyday for quite awhile, I'm sure.
The photo of the day is the emergency vehicles aiding Jack...
(this one is zoomed)
The next one, is the tractor up against the telephone pole. The seat would have been between those two raised green pieces in the middle. I'm guessing, he and the seat fell straight back and went under that cultipacker thing. HORRIFIC!
Here is a close-up of the cultipacker. I can't believe that poor man ended up UNDERNEATH that!
Here is how far from the road he was....it was a LONG WAY.
I'm so grateful that he's OK, and it seems as though, he will make a full recovery. It was just horrible!
On a happier note, I got all my posies! I'm ready to get things all set up and ready for summer.
Jim, Reagan and I took a trip out to the experimental farm this evening. We discovered a cute little event called, Yappy Hour. It's a bonfire for dogs and their owners. They have beer, hotdogs, NOTdogs, smores and music. It was just getting started as we were leaving, but looked so cute! Now we want to go! Ray, Jenny, Rachel and Ron said they would want to go to! We'll have to look for the next one!
What a day.....sigh
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