Hamilton man ‘happy to be alive’ after farm accident that left him trapped under a tractor

Steve Lazenby had planned out the entire manoeuvre. The end goal? Better internet for a horse farm in Flamborough.

Within seconds that warm October afternoon, his seemingly well-executed plan turned into a life-changing accident.

Lazenby isn't a farmer - he is a designer for an electrical engineering firm in Toronto.

The property in Flamborough - which belongs to a family friend - is where Lazenby and his spouse Melanie Mirza board their horse and three miniature donkeys, Merle, Pearl and Chandler. They live in Port Elgin, but stay at the property when he can't work remotely and needs to be in the office.

He had been using a tractor to raise an antenna mast on the Mountsberg Road property the afternoon of Oct. 23. The entire process had gone smoothly, and as he wrapped up he put the tractor in neutral and turned the parking brake on.

The 39-year-old Hamilton man did a once over and everything looked good." But when he went to reach into the tractor to shut it off, he accidentally knocked it into gear.

What happened next played out in slow motion," said Lazenby, in an interview.

With Lazenby standing behind the left rear tire, the tractor drove over both of his ankles as the machine rode up the antenna mast like a ramp," damaging the outside of a nearby barn. He was trapped.

The tractor was turned upwards as if it was set to launch into space," with Lazenby pinned between the tractor frame and the back left tire. The pain was very intense."

It's very surreal," said Lazenby, describing the accident. You can see it happening, but your first thought is that you don't have any control over it."

The response to the accident was swift, Lazenby noted. Within a minute of it happening, about half a dozen people around the farm, including Mirza, hurried to his side as they called 911 and prepared to guide help to the property.

Photos from the scene showed a red, green and white tractor pointing upwards, with a visibly damaged barn in the background. A large group of first responders were huddled around the scene.

Lazenby said it took around half an hour for first responders - police, firefighters, paramedics - to arrive at the farm, coming from Waterdown and Freelton.

In all, Lazenby was trapped under the machine for an agonizing an hour and a half before it could be moved by the Hamilton Fire Department.

As he waited, his mind wandered to questions about how the accident would affect other people and the plans he had for the rest of the afternoon. Specifically, he contemplated how Mirza would react to the mess of the situation, the fallout for the property owner and the damage to the barn.

He was also yelling a lot, noting an urgent feeling" of wanting the tractor off of him.

Lazenby described the process as a leapfrogging" effort, with both paramedics and firefighters keeping him calm and holding (his) hand."

There was always someone reassuring me and talking to me," said Lazenby, who was conscious and talking throughout the entire rescue. I was never alone."

Lazenby was rushed by ambulance to Hamilton General Hospital with just two broken ankles and some superficial" wounds like scraps and bruises as well as some muscle loss on his legs due to having some mild crush syndrome - a result which he describes as absolutely amazing."

He added that his ankles weren't shattered as the ground was soft at the time, which absorbed some of the weight from the tractor.

He spent around two weeks in the hospital following surgery and he's hopeful that by springtime, he'll be fully recovered with the help of physiotherapy.

In the meantime, Lazenby is using a wheelchair and he and Melanie are staying in an accessible space that's attached to the horse arena on the property.

I'm lucky to be alive," he said. All things considered, this is like a slap in the face."

Lazenby credited his condition to the first responders who took part in his rescue.

He described their actions as very methodical and thoughtful," - the exact opposite of his initial panicked response to the accident, which was to yell for the tractor to be immediately removed. His prognosis would have been much worse if the folks on the farm hadn't been told to wait for help, he noted.

Lazenby also commended the front line health care workers at the hospital, describing the nurses on the trauma unit as absolutely amazing."

He reached out to The Spectator in the hopes of sharing his gratitude for those who helped him.

I owe them everything," said Lazenby. I feel an absolute debt to them."

Lazenby said in the aftermath of the accident, he and his partner have received an absolutely overwhelming" amount of support from those around them.

His former boss removed the tractor off the building for free, a family friend repaired the damaged barn for only the cost of materials, and others have dropped off meals.

He's since returned to work and continues to recover at home with his pets and Mirza by his side.

I'm just happy to be alive," said Lazenby.

Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com