Houlton man on mend from snowmobile injury

HOULTON – A Houlton man who was injured Saturday in a snowmobile accident at Community Park was back home on Monday from Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

James Wilmot, 21, shattered his jaw and broke three teeth when he was hit in the face by a rope that had been stretched across a snowmobile trail in the park, his father said.

The rope, which had been strung across the trail between a light pole and the fence at the tennis courts, was put out to keep snowmobiles out of the area where fireworks were being set up for a show for Moosestompers Weekend. The rope was not marked.

Wilmot said his son was in the park helping someone who was having trouble with her snowmobile. Shortly after 5 p.m., he took the sled for a test ride to see how it was running, and that was when he ran into the rope.

The younger Wilmot was taken by a friend to Houlton Regional Hospital and later transferred by ambulance to EMMC.