NEW VINEYARD — A 4-year-old boy had his leg severed by the bucket on a front-end loader operated by his grandfather Monday, Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said Tuesday.

Adam Mattson of New Vineyard was being treated at a Boston hospital, Nichols said.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by family friend Jessica Harris, surgeons were not able to reattach the leg and the boy was in stable condition.

The child was with his grandfather, who is his legal guardian, at a family gravel pit off Anson Valley Road when the accident occurred. At some point the grandfather turned his attention away and the child got underneath the bucket, which was in the air, Nichols said.

“It was at that point the bucket lost hydraulic pressure, lowered and captured both legs of the child, severing one,” Nichols said.

The grandfather wrapped up his grandson’s leg to try to stop the bleeding and drove the bucket-loader about half a mile to a truck to take him to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Nichols said.

Farmington police officer Ryan Rosie alerted Franklin County deputies to the incident just before 2 p.m. He stopped a car for speeding and erratic driving and discovered the driver, the grandfather’s significant other, was delivering a severed leg to the hospital for possible reattachment to a young child, Nichols said. Rosie escorted the car to the hospital.

The child was flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to a Boston hospital, Nichols said.

“There is no doubt that the actions taken by the grandfather saved the child’s life,” Nichols said.

Deputies Keith Madore, Sgt. Nathan Bean, Chief Deputy Steven Lowell and Lt. David Rackliffe went to the Anson Valley Road to investigate, and Detective Stephen Charles went to the hospital.

 dperry@sunmediagroup.net

Adam Mattson (GoFundMe page photo)

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