Rescue of Woman Pinned On Lawn Mower Required Quick, Carefully Thought-Out Action

MIDDLE HOPE, NY — Firefighters never know the exact circumstances that may require their expertise, so they constantly train for the unexpected — and that training paid off in a big way this weekend.

On Sunday, just after noon, the Middle Hope Fire Department was dispatched to an address on Orchard Heights Drive for a report of a woman trapped under a deck, on a lawn mower.

The victim who was on the riding mower was pinned under the rear deck of a house. She told firefighters that she had been pinned in this position for 15 minutes before a neighbor heard her cries for help and called 911.

The accident victim was not able to feel or move her leg or foot when rescuers arrived.

Rescuers cut one of the supporting posts and raised the entire deck using airbags. Once this was done, the woman was able to be lifted from the lawnmower to the waiting stretcher and taken by Town of Newburgh Emergency Medical Services to St. Luke's Hospital.

"Big thank you to town of Newburgh EMS for keeping the patient calm while operations commenced," the Middle Hope Fire Department said in a statement on social media. "And to Town of Newburgh Police Department for assisting carrying equipment to and from the apparatus."