Leonard Brantley was bush hogging a field off of White Road near Mattoon just before dark Monday when he stopped the mower to use the tractor's front-end loader to push ice storm debris out of the field and into the woods. A low-hanging branch apparently knocked Brantley off of the back of the John Deere tractor.
He became caught by the tractor axle and bush hog and was dragged several feet into the forest before the tractor was stopped by some trees. Brantley was able to get a cell phone out of his pocket and call for help.
Rescue workers, summoned to the scene at 8 p.m., used jacks to remove the tractor and Brantley appeared to have escaped serious injury. However, he was flown to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville as a precautionary measure.
Another local man, Ron Dalley, was injured last week in a tractor accident at his home on U.S. 60 West. He remains hospitalized in Evansville.
