SWANVILLE, Maine — Dan Littlefield had just fixed a flat tire Sunday afternoon outside a customer’s Swan Lake Avenue home when a woman ran from the house next door, calling for help.
It was an emergency — a loaded tractor-trailer had collapsed onto Thomas Benner’s chest after the jack he was using malfunctioned, and his family’s frantic efforts to free him weren’t working.
They had called 911 to ask for help, but while Waldo County Sheriff’s Office deputies were en route to the residence, they heard from a police dispatcher that Benner’s condition was becoming grave, according to a police report.
Elizabeth Benner, his wife, went looking for help and Littlefield, who owns a small towing and repair business in Belfast, was able to respond. He had his wrecker truck with him and he drove it next door and got to work.
“I could see [Thomas Benner] under the back of the trailer,” Littlefield said. “We lifted the back so his son could pull him out. I was a little nervous — but I had to try.”
When emergency crews from Belfast Fire and Ambulance got to the house, they brought Benner to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast. From there, he was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor by LifeFlight helicopter.
On Monday, Benner was in fair condition.
“My boy and [Littlefield were] the ones that saved my life. If it wasn’t for those guys, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you,” Thomas Benner, 48, said Monday evening during an interview in his hospital room.
“He was there from the get-go,” he said of his son Carl Benner, 26, who was in the yard at the time. “He drives my other truck.”
The owner of Benner Trucking, a contract hauling company, Benner said that he was doing wiring and lighting work on one of his tractor-trailers when a bottle jack snapped in two, causing the truck, the cribbing he placed under it for an extra layer of safety and the safety foot to shift forward.
The couple said that Thomas Benner’s injuries include seven broken ribs, a bruised lung, a fractured sternum and a fractured vertebra.
“And besides that my feelings [are] pretty hurt,” Thomas Benner quipped from his hospital bed.
The couple estimated that the jack was holding up about 30,000 pounds — namely the rig and its load of turbines destined for Wyoming — when the 2-year-old jack, which they said had a lifetime warrantee, failed. The load came crashing down and landed on Benner’s chest, which was crushed to within 9 inches of the floor.
There happened to be another jack nearby that Benner’s son used to relieve some of the pressure on his chest, Thomas Benner said.
“But he couldn’t get it up because it was too small,” he said.
By the time the weight was lifted off the trucking company owner, 20 minutes had lapsed.
“You know, Tom tried talking us through it. So that’s why Carl and I tried to keep calm. We really did. Because he freaks if we freak and we know that about him. But he was so calm and cool,” Elizabeth Benner said.
“We felt like we were watching him die and there was nothing we could do,” she said, adding that her husband’s face and extremities were turning black and all she could do was hold his hand.
Littlefield said that he had heard from the truck driver Monday morning.
“He thanked me and said he was looking forward to shaking my hand when he gets out,” Littlefield said. “I’m just glad I could help him. Glad he’s going to be OK.”
Also on Monday, Littlefield was recognized by Sheriff Scott Story and Sheriff-elect Jeff Trafton when he was presented with a letter of thanks from the sheriff’s office, a certificate of recognition and a challenge coin for actions that “directly resulted in saving Mr. Benner’s life,” according to the police report.
Elizabeth Benner said she also believes her husband had a guardian angel looking out for him, his brother Danny Benner, who died a little more than 30 years ago as the result of a car crash. Sunday was his birthday.