Man Survives Tractor Accident

A local man, Bill Allen, survived a fall off of his tractor and was trapped underneath for more than an hour and miraculously lived to tell about it. I went to visit him at his home in Hillsboro this week and he had a story to tell.

Mr. Allen, a resident of Hillsboro and avid outdoorsman was working on his property November 11 when he fell off of his tractor and was trapped underneath it for some time.

Mr. Allen said that he was bush hogging and was making 12-15 deer trails when he decided to head for home on the shoulder of the road. Along the way he hit a pine tree that had fallen over the road and managed to get wedged between the tire and the fender well which raised the tractor four or five feet high and swerved to the right.

Mr. Allen was thrown off the right side of the tractor when the brush guard on the front of it hit and wedged into the bank on the shoulder of the road, leaving the bush hog spinning with the tractor pinning Mr. Allen down.

Mr. Allen said that he blacked out from the impact of hitting the ground and when he came to, “the tractor was still running with that bush hog spinning. He said that his instincts kicked in and he “prayed to the Lord for strength to be able to get out from under that tractor.”

He said that it took him more than an hour to get enough strength to get out from under the tractor. Once he got out from under the machine, he said that he sat leaning against the front tire for about 30 minutes and he knew that something had to be broken as he started to swell.

After some time, he was able to mount the tractor and ride back toward his house. When he got close to home, a neighbor was out blowing leaves, and he called for him to come and help. The neighbor had to get a step ladder to get Mr. Allen off of the machine.

Once Mr. Allen was off he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, sure that he had broken bones. He was swollen and could see tire tracks on the right side of his body.

In the hospital he was given an MRI which found a major case of arthritis but no broken bones, just a lot of swelling and bruises.

Mr. Allen said, “I am lucky to be alive, and even luckier to have had no broken bones.” He did, however have damage to his left pointer finger and thumb. He received medication and 15 stitches for his hand to be sewn back up. His hand is still usable, however it just does not open as wide as before, according to Mr. Allen.

Mr. Allen just celebrated his 80th birthday on January 10. He knows that the Lord was watching over him during his incident, for him to make it to 80. He has yet to get back on that same tractor since his incident but plans on trying it again soon.

Mr. Allen and his wife, Shirley, have been residents of Jasper County for 12 years. He said “I hope to make it 12 more.”