In a press released just out from Lee County Emergency Services, an incident occurred around 10:00 am this morning as Lee County Road Department crews were conducting a right of way mowing operation on Hieronymus Loop Road in the Saint Helens community of Lee County.
An operator of a tractor and mowing machine was observed by flagging crews slumped over inside the cab of the tractor after what is believed to be a medical emergency. The tractor continued forward and left the roadway at a low rate of speed and came to rest against a tree approximately twenty feet off the roadway. The flagging crew made immediate contact with the operator, and he was found to be unresponsive and not breathing. Lee County Road crew members immediately called for assistance via the radio system and began to perform CPR while the operator was still in the cab of the tractor.
Lee County EMS and Lee County Fire responded and were on scene in less than 10 minutes from the initial call along with other road crew members and concerned citizens. The operator of the tractor was extricated and placed in a LCEMS ambulance and transported to the Kentucky River Medical Center in Jackson KY where he was pronounced deceased. A routine death investigation is being conducted by the Kentucky State Police Post 7.
The name of the deceased has not been released yet out of respect for the family.
