'Yorkshire Air Ambulance saved me from tractor crush'

The tractor's engine was still running when rescue crews arrived

A man who was trapped under a 1.5-tonne tractor in the Yorkshire Dales for two hours has recalled how he thought he would die.

Stephen Rathbone, 59, from Leyburn, was reversing his vintage tractor in a secluded valley in the Yorkshire Dales when it hit a stone and flipped on top of him, pinning down his arm, shoulder and part of his chest.

He said: "I was slowly thinking, 'this is probably the place that I'm going to die, looking up at the beautiful blue sky of the Yorkshire Dales'."

Mr Rathbone was rescued by a team from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service who managed to lift the tractor with specialist equipment.

Stephen Rathbone has since recovered from his extensive injuries

Mr Rathbone described how he had been helping friends in a field in West Burton, deep in the Dales when the accident happened.

"I started to roll backwards faster and faster and then I hit a stone and the tractor flipped over," he said.

"It reared up and it landed on me and it was lying across my shoulder and my chest, about 1.5-tonne.

"There was no one near, there was no public footpath near me."

Mr Rathbone said he was unable to get in his pocket for his phone and recalled: "So I thought 'well, this is the end of it'."

He was trapped under the vehicle for more than an hour until eventually his ribcage collapsed, which allowed him to reach for his phone.

He said: "My ribcage did an amazing job in protecting my organs after the initial impact, but obviously 1.5-tonnes is quite a lot of to ask of anyone's ribcage so it slowly collapsed and I was able then to get my hand underneath and into the pocket and slowly pull the phone out and make the call."

YAA's critical care team travelled more than 50 miles by air to reach the isolated location from their base in Nostell, near Wakefield.

When the crew arrived, they found the tractor's engine was emitting toxic fumes and diesel was leaking from the tank.

The team turned off the tractor's ignition and worked alongside firefighters to raise the vehicle using high pressure air bags.

Dr Steve Rowe, who is part of YAA's critical care team, said: "In some ways Stephen was very fortunate.

"The tractor didn't impact directly in the middle of his chest, which could have caused far more serious injuries.

"I can't imagine how uncomfortable and frightening the first hour must have been for him before we arrived."

After being rescued, Mr Rathbone was flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, where he remained for 12 days having suffered eight broken ribs, a fractured shoulder, broken sternum and a punctured lung.

Praising his rescuers, he said: "It was quite right that this incredibly well-coordinated rescue was filmed and recorded."

His story is featured in the third series of Yorkshire Air 999 on discovery+ and Really which airs later.

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