Two young children save father's life

MONTICELLO, Ill. (WAND) - Randy Hicks was finishing up his chores on his property like he does every night, driving his UTV back and forth from his house to his shed.

When a tire got stuck in a divot, he was face down on the ground and pinned beneath the vehicle.

"My first thought was that he was dead," his wife, Crystal, said. "He was trapped underneath a large UTV."

Hicks wasn't alone on the UTV. His 3-year-old son Asher was with him. The family still doesn't know exactly how the toddler freed himself, but just minutes later he was standing at the door yelling for help.

"It's a pretty good little distance from our house to our shed," Crystal said. "He came running in and he told me that daddy had fell off the ranger and he needed help and I needed to come. He was visibly distressed."

Once Crystal found the wreck, she told her 10-year-old son Xander to call 911 while she jacked the UTV off of her husband.

"I didn't have my phone I didn't have anything, so he called 911 and did 99% of the communicating to get the help that we needed," she said.

Xander recalled, "I had to keep calm and make sure the 911 operator could understand me, so they knew what was happening and where I was."

Both Asher and Xander accepted Hero awards from Kirby Ambulance for the actions that helped save their dad.

"I'm so proud of them," Randy beamed. "Had the 3-year-old not been with me, they basically said I wouldn't have an arm and possibly could be dead. But for him to know to climb out of the ranger and run and get help at three is amazing. And for the ten 10-year-old who was on the phone with 911 the whole time, they said he did a great job."

Xander added, "I feel very honored, but I'm just glad he's still here with us."

Randy says he lost about 40% of his blood through a cut on his arm and is still dealing with shoulder and ankle injuries.