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August 14, 2009

Man run over by tractor

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

A Woodbine man was run over by a tractor and bush hog and killed Thursday evening in what officials described as “a tragic farming accident.”

According to Sgt. Glen Bunch of the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, the man was working on a mechanical problem with a Massey Ferguson tractor at about 5 p.m. Thursday.

Bunch did not identify the victim, but neighbors named him as 77-year-old James Eldon McNeil.

“The victim attempted to reach up and start the tractor while he was standing on the ground,” Bunch said. “The tractor started, the engine started, and the tractor started rolling forward at that time. When it started, according to the witness statement, the rear tire then rolled over top of the victim. The victim was then run over by the bush hog, and was under the bush hog when medical and law enforcement arrived.”

Woodbine volunteer firefighters used two sets of the Jaws of Life to lift the rotary mower off the victim. The blades of the bush hog were not rotating at the time of the accident.

The accident occurred down a private drive off of Clarence Powers Road in Woodbine.

Bunch said the man was “unconscious and unresponsive” when he was taken by ambulance to Baptist Regional Medical Center.

Oak Grove, Rockholds and Woodbine volunteer fire departments responded to the scene, along with Whitley EMS and Whitley County Sheriff’s Department.

Funeral services for Mr. McNeil will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Hart Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Smith Cemetery.

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