A young child received critical injuries after being run over by a moving stand-up, industrial lawnmower Saturday afternoon near Cary, police said.
Lake County Sheriff Deputies and rescue personnel were dispatched to the 28700 block of Kristy Lane in unincorporated Lake County near Cary at about noon Saturday for a child who had been run over by a lawnmower, Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.
The preliminary investigation shows a three-and-a-half-year-old boy was riding on an industrial-type lawnmower with a family member, Covelli said.
The mower requires operators to be in a standing position when driving the machine, Covelli said.
Police believe the child was initially standing on the machine in front of the operator, Covelli said.
The operator was backing the machine up when the child either jumped or fell off, Covelli said.
Covelli said the family member then backed over the child with the mower deck.
Covelli said the mower deck rolled over one of the child’s legs, causing major injuries.
Covelli said a neighbor who arrived on the scene before medical personnel used a shirt to create a makeshift tourniquet above the child’s wounds to help stop the bleeding, Covelli said.
Applying a tourniquet is very important in a traumatic injury, like the one that took place, Covelli said.
Covelli said Cary paramedics arrived on scene quickly and provided life-saving care to the child.
The boy was transported in critical condition by the Cary Fire Protection District to Mercy Hospital in Crystal Lake before being flown via a medical helicopter to a Chicago hospital, Covelli said.
Lake County Sheriff Deputies remain at the scene to further investigate the incident.