Felax lucky to be alive after tractor accident
It wasn?t Sam Felax?s time to check out. How else can an averted tragedy in Moltke Township last Friday be explained? Felax became pinned underneath his tractor in a freak accident, and eventually slipped into a coma. More than 72 hours after the accident, and after almost being written off by doctors, he was back at home Monday, sleeping in his own bed, and anxious to get back to living a regular life.
It?s a miracle, or as family members say: it was an answer to prayer. ?Everything just fell into place,? said Russell Martin, his son-in-law, who was working with Sam. ?There were a hundred different things that fell into place and any one of them could have resulted in Sam?s death,? said Martin.
What amazes Felax about the ordeal? ?That I?m still here,? he said Tuesday from his living room recliner, still a little groggy. Surprisingly, Felax?s injuries were limited to a concussion and a broken rib. He didn?t have one bruise.
SAM AND RUSS were at Felax?s Angle Road property, clearing trees for a pole barn Sam plans to build. Trees were being dragged to the backside of the area, to be cut up later for firewood. ?I hooked onto a couple of trees,? said Martin, ?and Sam had started pulling them away, and the tree caught one of the stumps. The tractor stopped right where it was, but the engine didn?t stop.?
The tractor walked itself right up and over Sam. Felax was trapped between the ground and the tractor. Felax landed in an area 18 inches wide with the seat of the tractor pinned against his abdomen. The twisted steering wheel just missed him. Martin said he was within 20 to 30 feet away when it happened. He called for Sam?s wife Geri, who called Onstar. An ambulance was immediately sent to the area.
AT ABOUT the same time family members were frantically wondering how they were going to get the tractor off Sam, John Kwiatek of Fleis Excavating was dropping off an excavator. He was running an hour-and-a-half late. Kwiatek had the excavator off the trailer and was going to leave it at the end of the driveway. Geri came and got John, who went back for the excavator. He used the bucket to lift the tractor enough so Russ and Jerry could pull Sam out. Sam wasn?t breathing. ?He was very blue,? said Martin. At that moment, Martin couldn?t help but think of his daughter Noelle, 9, who died in June 2002, during surgery.
?He looked like she did when she died,? he said, his voice cracking over the telephone. Geri says all she could do was pray.
?I just prayed to God that He wouldn?t take him away from me,? she said.
?John and I both started to check for a pulse,? Martin said. ?At first I couldn?t tell if it was his or mine, so I went to his neck, and when I stuck my hand into his neck to check for a pulse, something caused him to take a breath.?
It was a labored breath, but he did start breathing. It was another unexplained miracle, according to Martin.
BY THAT time an EMT, who just happened to be in the Moltke area, arrived at the scene to assist. Felax was transported to Cheboygan Memorial Hospital, a trip that daughter Wendy Martin said was the longest trip of her life. Wendy said she sadly thought she might be planning the funeral of her father, so soon after Noelle?s untimely passing. It was a difficult trip for the entire family. The doctors in Cheboygan didn?t have much more good news to pass along. When they came out to talk with the many members of the Felax family who had gathered, the doctor said Sam had lost too much oxygen and may have brain damage, in addition to being unresponsive. Geri requested Sam be transferred to Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey. ?They (the doctors) said it wouldn?t make much of a difference, but they would go ahead and do it,? said Martin. Geri said doctors didn?t do much more in Pe
?HE WAS in a coma, but he was moving around, which was common with this stage of a coma, but his moves had a purpose,? said Martin. ?He was trying to pull the tubes out of his throat.? About 30 family members and the pastors of three churches waited at the hospital for encouraging news. Some held prayer vigils in the hospital chapel.
Their prayers were answered at 12:15 a.m. Saturday, as Sam squeezed the hand of loved ones in his room. ?I remember waking up in Petoskey, wondering what the heck was going on,? said Felax, although he can?t remember much else of the incident.
?It?s unbelievable that something like that can happen and everything comes together so quick,? he said. ?I?m just happy to be here.? He?s a lucky man to be here.