'It's a miracle': Laddonia resident recovers from tractor accident

By: Theo Tate, Staff Writer
Posted 8/6/21

When Laddonia resident Paul Sprock was run over by a John Deere tractor near his home and was rushed to the hospital on May 31, his sister, Amanda McCurdy, got her rosary she received from a friend …

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'It's a miracle': Laddonia resident recovers from tractor accident

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When Laddonia resident Paul Sprock was run over by a John Deere tractor near his home and was rushed to the hospital on May 31, his sister, Amanda McCurdy, got her rosary she received from a friend years ago and immediately started praying.

“Ever since Memorial Day, I was like, ‘I’m praying every day until he gets out of the hospital.’ Then, I just kept going,” said McCurdy, who is from Middletown.

McCurdy’s prayers were answered. Despite having broken ribs, crushed shoulder blades and a fractured arm, Sprock came out of the University of Missouri-Columbia trauma center alive.

“It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” McCurdy said.

McCurdy started a benefit called Prayers For Paul to help pay for his brother’s medical bills, which totaled $56,000. McCurdy said only 10 percent of that money was raised after the first month.

“It’s slow,” McCurdy said. “But what can you do besides make flyers and put them up on Facebook?”

Sprock said he has been showing signs of improvement since his accident.

“When I first came home, I couldn’t get up and down by myself,” Sprock said. “But I could get up and walk. That’s one thing they make me do every hour. I make about four or five trips in the house back and forth. Then, I get worn out. I try to push myself a little more every time. But I have to sit down in the chair, rest and breathe.”

After Sprock got out of the hospital, his fiancée, Malissa Staley, gave him a shirt that said in the back, ‘Paul 1, John Deere 0.’

“I had one of my friends make it probably a week after it happened,” Staley said.

The accident happened just yards from Sprock’s house, which is located on Highway K, just five miles north of the Montgomery County line. His 20,000-pound tractor — which he owned since 1985 — was hooked up to the bush hog rotary mower. He was starting his tractor while standing on the ground beside it. Then, he got run over by the tractor and the bush hog mower.

“I laid on the ground hollering for a while,” said Sprock, who worked as a farmer all of his life. “Malissa was weedeating, so she couldn’t hear me. I knew I had to do something or I would be dead. I took everything I had to get up, so I got up and I was trying to get to her. But I couldn’t walk that far. So I found my phone laying on the ground and dialed my son (Andrew). I put it on speaker, laid it on my chest and talked to him as long as I could.”

The next day, Sprock was in cardiac arrest, but the doctors and nurses were able to save him. He spent 17 days in the intensive care unit.

During that time, McCurdy created the Prayers For Paul benefit.

“People started donating money before I even started the benefit,” said McCurdy. “When they heard Paul was hurt, they were like, we want to give something to help. They could be gas expenses for people going to the hospital because Andrew and Malissa were going up there every day.”

Sprock was off the ventilator on June 19, allowing McCurdy to visit him and bring him one of his favorite treats — strawberries.

“It was good,” Sprock said. “I didn’t know how long I was in the hospital when I first woke up. I didn’t know what day it was. I didn’t know anything until I looked up on the board and they had the date up there on the board. When I was a kid, I used to pick strawberries for my grandma. I said, ‘This is June and this is fresh strawberry season.’ Those were my first words.”

On July 1, Sprock returned to ICU after getting a blood clot in one of his lungs.

“The doctor said had he stopped for gas or a hamburger, he would have been dead,” Staley said. “He came home on the 4th of July. So he’s one miracle after another miracle.”

Sprock said now that he is home, his goal is to get stronger every day.

“That’s the main thing,” Sprock said. “My arms used to be twice as big. Now, I can’t beat myself out of one paper bag. I was a bull. There was nothing I couldn’t pick up. Now, I can't do squat. I want to get back to that.”

Direct donations can be sent to the Paul Sprock Benefit, United Credit Union, 210 W. Washington St., Vandalia, MO 63382. Gifts can be sent to the Paul Sprock Benefit, in care of Amanda McCurdy, P.O. Box 272, Vandalia, MO 63382.


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