Michigan 4-Year-Old Airlifted After Falling From Moving Lawnmower in Swanville Township

A four-year-old child visiting from Lake Orion, Michigan was airlifted to a Twin Cities hospital Friday afternoon after falling from a moving lawnmower at a home in Swanville Township and being partially run over while the blades were engaged. The Morrison County Sheriff's Office received a call around 1:30 p.m. reporting the incident, which occurred at a home off 65th Street, roughly three miles northwest of Upsala.

According to WJON, the child had been riding on the front platform of a zero-turn lawnmower being driven by a 33-year-old Swanville man when the fall happened. The child sustained extensive injuries and was transported by air ambulance to Children's Minnesota Minneapolis Hospital for treatment. WJON reporter Paul Habstritt, writing for the station's St. Cloud news desk, reported that the incident remains under investigation.

Children's Minnesota is Minnesota's only freestanding Level I pediatric trauma center, staffed around the clock with pediatric surgeons and equipped with dedicated air ambulance helipads, according to Children's Minnesota. That designation, reverified this July, makes it the highest tier of pediatric critical care available in the state and explains why the child was flown there rather than to a closer facility.

A Pattern of Mower Injuries in Morrison County

This is not the first time Morrison County has seen a young child airlifted after a riding mower accident. In June 2024, a 6-year-old boy in Cushing Township was airlifted to a hospital in Minneapolis after his foot was run over by a riding mower with the blades engaged, according to Morrison County records.

An earlier case in May 2017 saw deputies respond to a similar zero-turn mower accident in neighboring Swan River Township, where a 2-year-old riding as a passenger fell off during a turn and was run over while the blades were active, requiring emergency air transport to a Twin Cities hospital, as reported by Lakeland PBS. Together, the two earlier cases point to a recurring hazard tied to carrying young children on riding mowers in this part of rural Minnesota.

Why Pediatricians Warn Against Mower Rides

The American Academy of Pediatrics explicitly advises that children under 16 should never operate riding lawnmowers, and that children of any age should never ride as passengers or even be present in the yard while mowing is underway, per guidance published on HealthyChildren.org. Despite that guidance, a Consumer Product Safety Commission survey found that roughly 55 percent of U.S. households with children under 10 allow kids to ride along on lawn equipment, a habit many parents treat as routine rather than risky.

Federal ANSI/OPEI safety standards require riding mowers to have Operator Presence Controls that cut the blades when the driver leaves the seat, but zero-turn mowers have no passenger seats, lap belts, or guards for anyone standing or sitting on the foot platforms, the commission notes. That mechanical gap leaves young riders with essentially no protection if they slip off during a turn.

The Physical Toll of Blade Contact

Nationwide Children's Hospital's 25-year study, published in 2021, found that falling off a riding mower as a passenger into active blades is the second most common mechanism of pediatric lawnmower trauma, with 38 percent of victims sustaining amputations and 68 percent suffering open fractures. Researchers there also note that riding mower blades can reach tip speeds up to 230 miles per hour, transferring kinetic energy on contact comparable to a firearm bullet impact.

Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates cited by Consumer Affairs show about 85,000 people are treated in emergency departments annually for lawnmower injuries nationwide, with roughly 8,000 involving children under 18. Pediatric orthopedic experts cited in the same report describe lawnmower blade strikes as the leading cause of major limb loss and traumatic amputation among children under 10.

The Morrison County Sheriff's Office has not released further updates on the child's condition, and it remains unclear what relationship, if any, exists between the Swanville driver and the visiting Michigan family. Whether investigators or the county attorney's office will pursue charges or citations has also not been announced as the investigation continues.