Child dies in farm accident

By Staff
Melissa Cason
THARPTOWN – A child was killed Wednesday when he fell off of a tractor in the Tharptown Community.
Franklin County Coroner Elzie Malone said 11-year-old Caleb Coxwell of Foley was pronounced dead on the scene.
The boy was visiting Dan Thorn and his family for the week.
Investigators were called to the scene around 9 a.m. on Franklin 87. The boy had been riding the tractor with Thorn as he cut grass on the property. The tractor ran over a small tree when the accident occurred.
"We aren't sure if the boy jumped or fell from the tractor at that point, but he somehow left the tractor and ended up under it," Malone said.
Malone said Coxwell died almost instantly.
"Death occurred instantly," Malone said.
The first on the scene was Constable Ray Hill. Hill said he met Thorn on the road of the property after the accident had been called into authorities.
"He was so upset. You could just see he was torn apart," Hill said.
Malone said farm accidents involving children are not a regular occurrance in Franklin County, but it's not uncommon for such accidents to involve children.
"Children are facinated with tractors and other types of farm equipment so it's not that uncommon to have farm accidents where children are killed or seriously injured," Malone said. "We are just thankful that they are not a regular sight in our area."
The Franklin County Sheriff's Department, Tharptown Fire Department, and Pleasant Bay Ambulance Service worked the accident.