A Happy Thanksgiving

This was a very special thanksgiving for me.   If things had been different last month, my father wouldn’t be alive today.  My Dad, Ernest Cross was involved in an terrible accident resulting in a multiple-fractored leg, 5 broken ribs, and a injured spine.  I’ll try not to give too detailed of a narrative on the accident as I’m a horrible writer but needless to say the farm tractor that he’s been using for the past 17 years almost got the best of him on Oct 2nd.

From what I can put together, my dad stopped the tractor to answer a call on his cell phone. The tractor accelerating forward and my dad ran to catch it. (My guess is that the tractor somehow slipped back into gear).  He grabbed for the steering wheel, lost his balance and large back tire snagged his leg and was pulled under. The entire weight of the tractor ran over his mid section. He then faced the scraper blade that was using to level the service road to his home.  The blade dragged him, rolling and tumbling for several feet until he was released.

My Dad could have easily died or been crippled if the tractor had veered just a few inches higher – crushing his neck instead of chest and back. His broken ribs could have punctured his lungs or other vital organs but they didn’t. He could have bleed to death but h was found by a neighbor returning home from an errand.

I’m so thankful that he is alive and recovering. Hoping that he will be able to walk again after his leg heals.

Read the article from the Progress Index