State Rep. Joe McCord is recuperating after a bulldozer mishap on his family’s Blount County farm left him with a torn Achilles tendon and multiple wasp stings.
The chairman of the House Conservation and Environment Committee says he was “clearing trails” over the weekend, using a “high-lift bulldozer,” when he unearthed an underground nest of “yellow jacket” wasps.
Trying to avoid stings from the swarming wasps, the Maryville Republican leaped off the machine.
“In jumping off, I tore my Achilles tendon. So I was sitting there, holding my calf. And I still got stung 20-something times,” he said in a telephone interview.
“I’m thinking some environmentalist groups put them (the wasps) out there for me to find,” he quipped.
Some environmentalists were unhappy with legislation McCord sponsored in the 2009 session of the General Assembly.
Doctors advised him to stay off his feet for several days before putting on a cast, probably next Monday, he said. After that, McCord said he will be able to get around on crutches for the next three months or so that will be required for the injury to heal.
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