A Pike County man was severely injured Monday after a bale of hay fell on top of him.
Pike County sheriff’s deputies and local firefighters responded around 5 p.m. to the home of Robert Lanham, 63, on McComb-Holmesville Road a few miles east of McComb.
They found Lanham on the seat of his tractor, pinned underneath a large bale of hay.
First responders transported him to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, and he was airlifted later to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Tuesday night, Sheriff Mark Shepard reported Lanham’s condition as life-threatening, and no changes to his medical status were reported this morning.
Authorities said the bale somehow fell onto him while he was moving it with the tractor.
“It’s my understanding that it rolled back off the forks onto him, on the tractor, and pinned him in the seat,” McComb Fire Department Interim Chief Stephen Adams said.
Firefighters from Friendship and McComb had to dig Lanham out of the hay before they could get to him to check his pulse, Adams said.
They then placed him in an ambulance and one firefighter rode with EMT units to continue to assist medics.
Lanham’s injuries were largely the result of being crushed under the weight of the bale of hay.
Adams said it’s unclear how long he had been trapped before his wife found him and called for help.
“Typically these round bales range anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds,” Adams said.
“I’ve seen this happen before with people moving hay. We’d like to remind the public to be very careful with hay and not to lift it too high.”
