Thursday's Internet Edition, September 09, 2010.
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| Ashleigh Hoots helped rescue her neighbor, Bobby Adams. |
As he navigated the area around the pond and creek bed at the front of his property, an area he had mowed countless times, the day quickly went from ordinary to unforgettable.
“Instead of my usual John Deere mower, I was riding an old Wheel Horse, straight-drive mower. When I tried to go up the hill, I hit the clutch and turned the steering wheel, and the thing just flipped over,” Bobby explained. “I ended up pinned with the rear wheels of the mower on my back.”
Bobby felt something hit his left leg and thought he had broken it. What he did not know was that the mower’s deck adjustment lever had pierced completely through his left calf.
“I couldn’t move my leg, but I couldn’t look back to see what was wrong either. I was elbow deep in mud, and the weight of the mower kept pushing me down further. No one passing by could see me down there, so it was a bad predicament for me. I was hollering as loudly as I could.”
Meanwhile, across the street, 13-year old Ashleigh Hoots had just returned home from a shopping trip with her mother, Lynn, and her eight-year old sister, Lindsey. Around 6 p.m., Ashleigh walked out on the front porch to feed her dog and heard Bobby’s cries for help.
“I couldn’t see him, but I recognized his voice right away,” Ashleigh said. “He was yelling ‘Help!’ I told my mom that we needed to go over there.”
Ashleigh and Lynn hurried across the street and found Bobby trapped in the creek bed. As they got closer, they realized the extent of his injury.
“I saw that the lever was through his leg, and that freaked me out,” Ashleigh said, “so I ran back up to the road and tried to flag down cars to get help.”
Lynn quickly called 911 and then Bobby’s wife, Dottie. Dottie in turn called their son, Kent Adams, who lives nearby.
“When Kent got there, he lifted the mower up and held it off me for about 15 minutes,” said Bobby. “I was mired in the mud and couldn’t get up, and the mower was about to cut my breath off.”
The 911 call was routed to the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, of which Ashleigh’s father, Mike, is a member. He was on his way to Greensboro when his digital pager alerted him of the call. He was stunned to see his home address on the screen.
“I went kind of crazy,” Mike said. “The code was ‘injury with rescue,’ which means the responders will have to extricate someone. It sounded bad.”
Frantic with worry, Mike grabbed his cell phone and called his wife. All he got was a busy signal.
“That was a helpless feeling. I do rescues for the whole neighborhood, and now something is happening at my own house and I’m too far away to help. By the time I got through to Lynn, she told me that our guys were on the scene and had everything under control.”
The third car Ashleigh flagged down belonged to a Vienna Fire Department member who was responding to the 911 call. More VFD members arrived soon after with a mechanical saw. In order to free Bobby, they cut the lever and part of the steering wheel from the lawnmower.
“I wasn’t in too much pain until they started sawing, and then the vibrations really hurt,” said Bobby. “When they got me up I had that lever sticking out about six inches on one side of my leg and two inches on the other side.”
Bobby estimated he was pinned for about 30 minutes. As Ashleigh watched from the road, he was loaded into an ambulance and transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
“I wasn’t scared while it was happening, but when it was all over and they took him away, then I got scared,” said Ashleigh.
Bobby underwent surgery to remove the lever at 3 a.m. Friday morning. A second operation was required on Saturday, and he was discharged the following Tuesday, July 11.
“I was very lucky in that the lever didn’t hit any bone, muscles or tendons,” said Bobby. “I think I only took one pain pill the entire time. I couldn’t put any pressure on the leg for two weeks, but once I had the stitches removed I was able to start walking some.”
Today, all that remains of Bobby’s ordeal are two scars- one on each side of his calf. He is healing well and is now able to exercise the injured leg.
“I’d say I’m operating at about 90 percent. I’m working it out and getting my strength back.”
The old Wheel Horse mower, on the other hand, did not fare so well. With the deck lever and steering wheel broken and the seat still stained with mud, it sits outside Bobby’s garage. He plans to sell it.
While life for both the Adams and Hoots families has returned to normal, the 6th of July is a day they will not soon forget.
“I still can’t believe all this happened just 15 minutes after I left the house,” said Mike. “I am so glad Ashleigh was there and was able to hear Bobby. All that mattered was that someone heard his call for help. We are all very proud of her.”
Asked if she considers herself a hero, Ashleigh modestly replied, “I’m just glad I was able to help.”
So is Bobby Adams, who has no doubt that Ashleigh was his guardian angel on that fateful day.
“If she hadn’t gone outside when she did, no one would have ever heard me and I would have died there,” he stated “I was about to give up, but the good Lord was looking after me and sent Ashleigh outside. She really saved my life, no question about it.”