By Jacqueline Palochkio
The Evening Sun
HERSHEY, Pa. — A seven-year-old boy’s leg was severed from the knee down Sunday night after he became caught under a lawn mower while his grandmother was cutting the grass outside East Berlin, according to officials.
The boy was in critical condition when he was flown to Hershey Medical Center Sunday, according to Bruce Yealy, Lt. Medic with Hanover Hospital.
The boy was playing on the swings in the backyard on Ruppert Road around 6 p.m. while his grandmother was mowing the lawn, Reading Township Police Officer Gregory Morehead said. The next thing she knew, he was caught underneath the back of the mower, Morehead added.
“It happened so quick,” Morehead said. “She just didn’t see him.”
It took about 20 minutes to free him from the tractor, Morehead said. Along the street, neighbors stood outside watching the scene until the helicopter left with the boy.
“I have three boys,” one neighbor mentioned. “I can’t imagine this.”
The family was also flown to the hospital to be with the boy. They were holding up as well as could be expected, both Morehead and Yealy said.
“It was purely accidental,” Yealy added.
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