David Tilton of Chesterville shows his new tricycle along with the one destroyed Saturday when a motor vehicle struck him as he pushed the tricycle up the North Chesterville side of Zion Hill Road. The driver did not stop.

The community helped a disabled Chesterville man by providing a replacement tricycle for the one in the background that was damaged in a hit-and-run accident Saturday. From left are Norman Corbin, Tiffany Estabrook, David Tilton and Carroll Corbin.

CHESTERVILLE — A Chesterville man was struck by a vehicle Saturday while he was pushing a tricycle up Zion Hill Road.

His toes, a custom-made basket and a cart on the back of the tricycle were run over, but the driver did not stop. 

David Tilton, 51, is recovering from minor injuries and police are attempting to find the driver.

The case is under investigation but no arrest had been made, Maine State Trooper Jason Wing said Monday. Wing refrained from giving any more information until police complete their work.

Wing said the vehicle ran over Tilton’s cart, which was pulled behind the tricycle, and over his toes. Rescue personnel thought they were broken, but they were only bruised, and Tilton complained of chest pain, which they thought might have been a result of anxiety, Wing said. He was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital by ambulance for observation. 

Tilton’s tricycle was well-marked and off the road, Wing said.

Tilton is well-known and liked in the Chesterville community as he rides his tricycle around the town’s 45 miles to pick up bottles and cans along the side of the road. He likes the cash from the returns and picking up after litterbugs, he said.

Everyone saves them for David, his brother Tim Tilton said.

He was on the North Chesterville side of Zion Hill at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday. He was at the bottom of the hill, across from a cemetery, as he made his way home. He was off the tricycle and starting to push it up the hill, he said.

“The vehicle came up behind me,” Tilton said. “The driver floored it and pushed me into the ditch.”

A witness to the incident said the driver was speeding in the 30-mph section of country road, according to Tim Tilton.

Selectperson Tiffany Estabrook also came on the scene Saturday and stopped. She said the vehicle hit the tricycle with such force that it went up the road about 50 feet and wrapped around a tree. Tilton apparently rolled into the ditch but not before his foot was run over.

Tilton was wearing a fluorescent vest and a helmet. The tricycle had a fluorescent orange triangle on the back and a flag. His handmade cart was destroyed and a custom-made metal basket pushed into the seat.

As word of the accident began to spread around the small town, people showed how much they care about each other, Carroll Corbin said.

Corbin went on Facebook in search of another cycle for Tilton. A classmate, Ray Mona Buxton of Poland, had one sitting in storage, Corbin said.

Buxton met Corbin and his son, Norman Corbin, in Winthrop on Sunday to give the two-year-old tricycle, hardly ever used, to the cause. 

“Within 25 hours of the accident, Tilton had another bike,” Carroll Corbin said.

The smile on Tilton’s face when the Corbins drove into the yard with the new tricycle was well-worth the effort, Corbin said.

“It was a group effort,” Corbin said.

A new basket for the back of the tricycle and another cart will be built and donated by neighbors.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

David Tilton of Chesterville was pushing his tricycle and cart up Zion Hill Road on Saturday when he was struck by a motor vehicle that ran over the cart, basket and Tilton’s toes.

David Tilton of Chesterville was pushing his tricycle up Zion Hill Road on Saturday when he was struck by a motor vehicle that ran over a cart, basket and Tilton’s toes.