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BERN -- A 3-year-old boy was killed Friday near Athens after he was run over by a skid steer loader driven by his 7-year-old brother, police say.
The younger brother was riding in the bucket of the skid steer with two other siblings, ages 4 and 5, said Lt. Fred Goch of the Marathon County Sheriff's Department. The 3-year-old fell out of the bucket, and the skid steer ran over him before the child's older brother could stop the vehicle. The children's father was working in a field 50 to 80 yards away, Goch said.
The children were playing with the machine, which was regularly used by the 7-year-old around the family's farm to do chores, Goch said.
Emergency responders were called just after 11 a.m. for a report of a child who did not have a pulse and was not breathing at a farm in the 6500 block of Highway 97 in the town of Bern, Sheriff's Lt. Frank Hanousek said.
A skid steer is a versatile and maneuverable small-framed vehicle steered by controlling the speed and direction of two sets of side wheels. Skid steers can be used with different pieces of equipment at the end of two arms, such as a bucket.
The incident was similar to one that happened about a month ago in the town of Bevent, when a 3-year-old girl, Crystalina Gagas, fell out of a bucket and was run over by a tractor driven by Matthew Gagas. Crystalina was seriously injured in that incident.
Young children are killed and seriously injured on farms on an alarmingly regular basis, said Barbara Lee, director of the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety in Marshfield.
Recent cases in Wisconsin include a 19-month-old boy who was killed when he was run over by a skid steer in the Marshfield area in September and a 3-year-old boy killed in Rock County in April 2011 when he fell out of a tractor cab and was run over.
Thirty-six children ages 14 and younger have been killed in farm-related incidents between 1999 and 2008, according to the University of Wisconsin Ag Safety and Health Center.
"The big question is, why are these kids present in a very dangerous work setting?" Lee said. "There is no reason that a 3-year-old or 4-year-old should be out there. ... It's a mistaken notion that people often feel that spending time with their kids in these work sites is fun."
Lee said the center recommends that no child younger than 7 years old should participate in meaningful farm work, and that younger children should not be present in work areas.
The younger brother was riding in the bucket of the skid steer with two other siblings, ages 4 and 5, said Lt. Fred Goch of the Marathon County Sheriff's Department. The 3-year-old fell out of the bucket, and the skid steer ran over him before the child's older brother could stop the vehicle. The children's father was working in a field 50 to 80 yards away, Goch said.
The children were playing with the machine, which was regularly used by the 7-year-old around the family's farm to do chores, Goch said.
Emergency responders were called just after 11 a.m. for a report of a child who did not have a pulse and was not breathing at a farm in the 6500 block of Highway 97 in the town of Bern, Sheriff's Lt. Frank Hanousek said.
A skid steer is a versatile and maneuverable small-framed vehicle steered by controlling the speed and direction of two sets of side wheels. Skid steers can be used with different pieces of equipment at the end of two arms, such as a bucket.
The incident was similar to one that happened about a month ago in the town of Bevent, when a 3-year-old girl, Crystalina Gagas, fell out of a bucket and was run over by a tractor driven by Matthew Gagas. Crystalina was seriously injured in that incident.
Young children are killed and seriously injured on farms on an alarmingly regular basis, said Barbara Lee, director of the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety in Marshfield.
Recent cases in Wisconsin include a 19-month-old boy who was killed when he was run over by a skid steer in the Marshfield area in September and a 3-year-old boy killed in Rock County in April 2011 when he fell out of a tractor cab and was run over.
Thirty-six children ages 14 and younger have been killed in farm-related incidents between 1999 and 2008, according to the University of Wisconsin Ag Safety and Health Center.
"The big question is, why are these kids present in a very dangerous work setting?" Lee said. "There is no reason that a 3-year-old or 4-year-old should be out there. ... It's a mistaken notion that people often feel that spending time with their kids in these work sites is fun."
Lee said the center recommends that no child younger than 7 years old should participate in meaningful farm work, and that younger children should not be present in work areas.
