Home / Disasters and Accidents / Man Trapped Under 1.5-Ton Tractor Thought He Would Die in Yorkshire Dales
Man Trapped Under 1.5-Ton Tractor Thought He Would Die in Yorkshire Dales
3 Oct
Summary
- Man trapped under 1.5-ton tractor for 2 hours
- Rescued by Yorkshire Air Ambulance and firefighters
- Suffered 8 broken ribs, fractured shoulder, and punctured lung
In a harrowing incident that occurred last month in the Yorkshire Dales, a 59-year-old man named Stephen Rathbone found himself trapped under a 1.5-ton tractor for two agonizing hours. Rathbone, a resident of Leyburn, was reversing the vintage tractor in a secluded valley when it hit a stone and flipped over, pinning down his arm, shoulder, and part of his chest.
As he lay there, Rathbone recalled thinking, "this is probably the place that I'm going to die, looking up at the beautiful blue sky of the Yorkshire Dales." Fortunately, a team from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service arrived on the scene and managed to lift the tractor using specialized equipment, rescuing Rathbone from his perilous predicament.
After being freed, Rathbone was airlifted to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, where he remained for 12 days. The accident had left him with eight broken ribs, a fractured shoulder, a broken sternum, and a punctured lung. Despite the severity of his injuries, Rathbone expressed gratitude for the "incredibly well-coordinated rescue" that saved his life.
