A Bolton man suffered serious injuries last Sunday when the tractor he was driving rolled over on Ayer Road. A witness told police the tractor was headed north near Old Shirley Road when its front fork appeared to catch on the pavement, forcing the tractor to turn sharply and then flip onto its side. The tractor had no seat belt, police said, and the driver was thrown to the ground as the machine fell.
A 911 call from a witness brought Officers Timothy Miner and Aaron Cavanaugh to the scene, where two nurses who had seen the accident were trying to help the driver. He was bleeding heavily from massive wounds to his face and head as well as other severe injuries. The officers quickly began to bandage his injuries.
The Harvard ambulance crew then arrived and took over the medical work. Bolton’s Advanced Life Support staff was also on the scene. The driver’s injuries were so severe that the paramedics called Boston MedFlight. Escorted by Officer Miner, the ambulance crew moved the patient to the landing field at the Lancaster County Road soccer field. From there, the MedFlight helicopter took him to the trauma center at UMass Medical Center in Worcester. The dispatcher notified the driver’s family. On Wednesday, Harvard Police Chief James Babu said in an email, “Luckily he is still alive, but will need a lot of treatment and rehabilitation.”
While waiting for the helicopter, the Harvard officers called Officer Jacob LaChance of the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council’s collision reconstruction team to come to the accident scene. After LaChance finished his investigation, the tractor was towed. Although the final accident report was not available, the Harvard police report said evidence at the scene indicated the front fork of the tractor may have dropped suddenly while the tractor was moving, catching on the road and causing the rollover.
A tractor lies on its side after an accident on Ayer Road. (Photo by Robert Curran)
