Pastor Leonard Barney of St. Clair County in Michigan was helped by an unlikely hero – Moonshine – after a lawnmower he was trying to unload from the bed of his truck came crashing down on him and pinned him to the ground.
In this case, Moonshine is not alcohol, but the name of the 15-year-old white horse who led help to the injured pastor.
Barney had been trapped for about 45 minutes when Moonshine’s unusual behavior caused his owner, 18-year-old Amanda Thorson, to notice the pastor’s cries for help. Thorson and her friends, Miranda “MJ” Ross and Jacy Huntley, had been having trouble loading Moonshine into a horse trailer to move him to a new barn.
Image source: WXYZ
When the usually-easy-going gelding refused to load into the trailer, they decided to walk. Moonshine started spinning in circles and refusing to go forward. That’s when they heard the pastor’s cries for help. Thorson said:
“[We] could see behind the barn an old man, who we never knew … We run back there and as soon as we turn the corner we see he has a lawnmower on him and he’s pinned.”
The women lifted the tractor off of the pastor and called 911.
Pastor Barney is recovering in a Detroit hospital. He suffered several fractures and puncture wounds, but is expected to survive. His family is thankful that Moonshine led help to him when he needed it the most.
