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James Cockerham credits two things with his survival — God and a pocket knife.

The 83-year-old Madison Twp. man was pinned underneath a flipped tractor for four hours Monday, but managed to dig his way free with a pocket knife he keeps in his pocket.

Cockerham was trying to remove a post from the back of his 4-acre yard when the tractor flipped 180 degrees, landing on top of him.

"I was laying right under that seat and that seat had me right here," he said Tuesday, indicating a spot right below his rib cage. "I said 'Lord don't let me die under this tractor.' If I had been a big man with a big chest, that seat would have crushed me to death."

Before he could begin digging, Cockerham had to labor for more than an hour to free his right leg, which was trapped above the tractor's wheel axel.

"It got plum numb," he said of the leg. "I sure did do some praying and when I started getting out I sure did do some rejoicing. When I got the foot off the axle, I knew then I wasn't going to die."

Cockerham spent the next two and a half hours digging — an idea that came to him after remembering how trapped raccoons would try to dig themselves free.

"That's where I got the idea – I said, 'I'll just take my knife and start digging.' I just kept scooting until I scooted out of there. I took four hours to get out of there and they were rough hours."

Once free, Cockerham stopped to put back on his clothes, which he'd removed to aid his escape. Then he walked about 150 yards to his home, called his daughter and then 911.

Doctors at Middletown Regional Hospital ran X-rays and CT scans but the most they could find wrong were some nasty bruises on his arms and painful but minor lacerations on his chest and back.

Cockerham's eight children, 21 grand children, 28 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild are saying a prayer of thanks for his escape and are urging him to get a roll bar before he gets back behind the wheel of his tractor.

"I'm thinking about getting one," he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2511 or dwells@coxohio.com.