MEADE TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - An 18-year-old man from Michigan's Thumb area was killed after he was pinned under a tractor while cutting wood with his grandfather.
The incident happened Monday afternoon in a field near McMillan and Crown roads in Meade Township, south of Port Austin.
According to the Huron County Sheriff's Office, the pair was returning after cutting wood, traveling on the tractor along a ditch. While doing so, poor surface conditions caused the tractor to get too close to the ditch and tip over, trapping both.
The grandfather, 72-year-old Stewart Bouverette, of Filion, was able to free himself after a few minutes and climb to the top of the ditch and call for help. The tractor, which was pulling a trailer and log splitter, was too heavy to move.
Good Samaritans came to help and used a loader to get the tractor off 18-year-old Brandon Ricker, of Elkton, just enough to free him, but it was too late and he died at the scene.
An autopsy has been ordered.
