March 28, 2024
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2 family members hurt in snowmobile accident

GREAT POND PLANTATION – A family outing turned sour Saturday afternoon when two in-laws were injured in a snowmobile accident and were hospitalized at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Roger Bond, 42, of Greenfield Township suffered a broken right arm and leg and had to be taken by helicopter to the medical facility. A nerve in Bond’s right arm also was severed, according to reports from the Maine Warden Service.

Greg Kitchen, 41, of Greenbush broke his left arm and right foot in the accident.

Both men were listed in stable condition Sunday afternoon, according to a Maine game warden.

The pair had been snowmobiling with six other family members, riding near the family’s camp at Morrison Ponds.

The group was heading home on the Stud Mill Road, a private road, when the accident occurred, 25 miles from the nearest town, Warden David Georgia said.

Bond had taken the head of the pack and passed over the crest of a hill when he spotted a rock in the middle of the plowed logging road, Georgia said.

After Bond turned his sled in the middle of the road to remove the rock and prevent an accident, Kitchen came over the hill and hit Bond in the middle of the side of his sled.

Kitchen’s son, a minor, had been riding by his father’s side on a separate sled and barely avoided becoming part of the accident himself, said Georgia.

“Speed was definitely a factor,” the warden said. The accident is still under investigation by the warden service and Maine State Police.

One of the members of the party called 911 on a cell phone and made arrangements to meet a LifeFlight helicopter and Old Town Fire and Rescue nearby at an old airstrip at Pickerel Pond, the nearest possible landing area for the helicopter.

Bond was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center by helicopter, while Kitchen was taken by ambulance.

As of Sunday afternoon, Kitchen was undergoing surgery to repair one of his broken bones, according to Georgia. It was not known whether Bond had gone into surgery to repair the damaged nerve in his arm.

The accident prompted the Maine Warden Service again to remind snowmobilers not to ride on plowed roads because of the difficulty in stopping, Georgia said.

Additionally, riders should watch their speeds and not travel on posted property.

“The Stud Mill Road is not open to snowmobile or ATV traffic,” Georgia said. “It is a posted road.”

The warden also advised riders to be careful when riding in areas with limited visibility.

“People need to watch their speeds while they’re riding,” he said. “You never know what’s around the next corner.”


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