Neighbor saves man’s life after tree pins him on tractor

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. — A Mississippi man’s life was saved by a neighbor, who heard his cries for help after he was trapped under a tree while doing yard work.

Steve McMicking is on the mend after a near-fatal accident while using his tractor to move a dead tree at his home on Mother’s Day.

“It was the worst mistake I made in my life, because it’s ended up changing my life forever,” he said.

McMicking says the tree slipped out from under the tractor’s bucket and went over the top of the steering wheel, hitting him in the chest and pinning him to the seat. He began calling out for help.

“I was bound and determined that if I was going to die, I was going to die hollering for help,” McMicking said. “My last breath was going to be, ‘Help!'”

His cries for help were heard by neighbor Blake Rivera, who was more than 200 yards away on a phone call.

“As the phone was ringing, I thought I heard somebody hollering, ‘Help,’ and I told him, I’m gonna have to call you back,” Rivera said.

Rivera said he got on his side-by-side ATV and drove it around, turning it off to try to hear the call for help.

“By the time I heard it again, I looked over here and seen him sitting on the tractor, pinned up,” he said.

Rivera said he was unable to move the 30-foot tree and ran to get a chainsaw, so he could free his neighbor and call 911.

McMicking suffered a dislocated shoulder, his back was broken in two places, and his right arm was shattered from shoulder to elbow. He spent eight days in the hospital.

On Wednesday, the two were reunited for the first time since the accident.                 

“Thank goodness he heard me and was able to help me,” McMicking said of Rivera. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think I would get emotional, but he was a blessing from God. He really was.”