A 22-year-old man has been killed in an ATV/dirt bike accident off Lone Oak Road, about eight miles southeast of Clarkson.
Saturday morning at approximately 11:30, Grayson County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Andy Vincent, the Clarkson Fire Department and EMS responded to the ATV riding trails off Lone Oak Road, commonly referred to as Lone Oak Trails, on the report of a severely injured dirt bike rider.
Upon arriving at the scene, Clarkson Fire Chief Andy Cain said first responders found that 22-year-old Matthew C. Dillon, of Bardstown, had been riding on the trail when his friend accidentally bumped Dillon as he rode.
Dillon, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from a dirt bike and struck a tree.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by Grayson County Deputy Coroner Larry Holeman.
In the aftermath of the tragic death, Cain posted the following message on the Clarkson Fire & Rescue Facebook page regarding wearing helmets when operating ATVs and other riding equipment:
We here at Clarkson Fire & Rescue have Facebook too. We see all our friends are enjoying the outdoors while everything is shut down. And we just want to remind everyone if you’re out on your ATV, UTV, dirt bike, or bike, wear a helmet and goggles at minimum.
We all have faith in our skill and abilities, but what about other riders or drivers? Will you put your life in their hands? We all make mistakes (but) don’t let someone else’s mistake end your life.
Parents, spouses, girlfriends, sons, daughters, and friends remind them, force them, annoy them, b-tch at them, whatever it takes to make sure it happens.
I find that in the times we are in now, a lot of people are watering down their messages not to scare people. Well, I don’t believe in that, so straight talk — I don’t know statistics, but I’ll tell you from my experience in working numerous atv/motorcycle accidents (that) in a wreck, a helmet may not save you, but I does give us time to get to you, get you on a helicopter and get you to surgery somewhere. Without one it’s a toss-up between a helicopter ride or a ride with the coroner.
So again, for you in the back that are hard of hearing; WEAR A D-MN HELMET, my soul is hurting from picking up bodies.
On a personal note: I rode for years and thousands of miles without a helmet, but I was lucky. I only started wearing a helmet and goggles to keep spiderwebs and dust out of my face, shortly thereafter it probably saved my sight when a large rock came off the bike in front of me and hit me in the face.
Now I’m a firm believer that helmets save lives.
Signed: Andrew Cain
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
