A 20-year-old Alpharetta man injured Tuesday in what authorities say was an accident at a garbage transfer station in southwestern Forsyth County is facing a lengthy recovery.
Andrew Lovelace likely will undergo reconstructive surgery today at Atlanta Medical Center, said his mother, Billie Lovelace.
He was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta after he was pinned between a front end loader and a truck at the Mauldin Drive Transfer Facility in the Midway community.
“He’s in a lot of pain,” Billie Lovelace said. “He’s already had one surgery and he’s got to go back.”
She said a ball joint in her son’s hip will have to be reconstructed and his spleen was also damaged.
Lovelace described the incident as a “freak accident,” explaining that her son was pinned while trying to open the tailgate of a Dodge F350. She said the front end loader backed into him.
She said he was wearing a safety vest.
Lovelace’s wife of three weeks was sitting in the cab of the truck when the incident happened, Billie Lovelace said.
“She felt a big jerk and it threw her up against the dashboard,” she said. “She said she looked in the mirror on the side of the truck and she saw Andrew’s feet laying there and that’s when she jumped out.”
Lovelace said her son has “a long way to go.”
“Even after they do the surgery he’ll have to be off his leg for three months.”
Representatives of the transfer facility have declined to comment on the incident, citing an investigation.
The accident was part of a busy Tuesday afternoon for local emergency personnel.
A 70-year-old man was taken to North Fulton Regional Hospital after he fell at his home on Byers Road in northwestern Forsyth. Officials could not determine if he fell from his roof or a ladder propped against the roof.
A 13-month-old child was also taken to Grady for second-degree burns on his hands and a fire broke out in the garage of a house on Habersham Valley in southeastern Forsyth.
E-mail Julie Arrington at juliearrington@forsythnews.com.
Andrew Lovelace likely will undergo reconstructive surgery today at Atlanta Medical Center, said his mother, Billie Lovelace.
He was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta after he was pinned between a front end loader and a truck at the Mauldin Drive Transfer Facility in the Midway community.
“He’s in a lot of pain,” Billie Lovelace said. “He’s already had one surgery and he’s got to go back.”
She said a ball joint in her son’s hip will have to be reconstructed and his spleen was also damaged.
Lovelace described the incident as a “freak accident,” explaining that her son was pinned while trying to open the tailgate of a Dodge F350. She said the front end loader backed into him.
She said he was wearing a safety vest.
Lovelace’s wife of three weeks was sitting in the cab of the truck when the incident happened, Billie Lovelace said.
“She felt a big jerk and it threw her up against the dashboard,” she said. “She said she looked in the mirror on the side of the truck and she saw Andrew’s feet laying there and that’s when she jumped out.”
Lovelace said her son has “a long way to go.”
“Even after they do the surgery he’ll have to be off his leg for three months.”
Representatives of the transfer facility have declined to comment on the incident, citing an investigation.
The accident was part of a busy Tuesday afternoon for local emergency personnel.
A 70-year-old man was taken to North Fulton Regional Hospital after he fell at his home on Byers Road in northwestern Forsyth. Officials could not determine if he fell from his roof or a ladder propped against the roof.
A 13-month-old child was also taken to Grady for second-degree burns on his hands and a fire broke out in the garage of a house on Habersham Valley in southeastern Forsyth.
E-mail Julie Arrington at juliearrington@forsythnews.com.