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Man survives tractor spill
By David Hedges Publisher
Times Record-Roane County Reporter
The physical strength of a former four-time state wrestling champion may have saved his life in a tractor rollover.
Matt Ashley, 44, of Millstone was clearing brush last Thursday when his tractor went down an embankment.
His father, John Ashley, who arrived at the scene minutes after the accident, said his son stayed inside the canopy and roll bar of the tractor as it flipped over several times.
"He was so strong he just held on to the steering wheel and stayed on the tractor," his father said.
Ashley estimated that the tractor, which had a bucket on the front and a six-foot brush hog on the back, rolled at least five times as it went over a steep embankment before landing in the creek.
"He's one of the strongest men I've ever seen," said Ashley of his son, a Spencer High graduate who was the first wrestler in state history to win four state titles.
Neighbors who heard the crash responded within minutes, Ashley said. He credited Arnoldsburg volunteer firemen Ray Hall and his sons, Donald and Daniel Hall and Ray's brother, Dennis Hall, who lives near the accident scene, with saving his son's life.
"They kept him from going into shock," said Ashley.
Ashley was transported to the West Fork Community Park at Arnoldsburg where a HealthNet helicopter landed to transport him to CAMC General Hospital in Charleston.
Ashley said his son broke all three bones in his left leg. He also sustained a broken vertebrae, two broken ribs and numerous bruises. He suffered injuries to the top of his head as it bounced off the canopy several times while the tractor was rolling, his father said.
Ashley, a foreman at Ravenswood Aluminum, was expected to be released from the hospital this week, his father said.
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