Tell a story, save a life.
We’re creating injury prevention messages that highlight personal stories and first-hand experiences. Who are the storytellers? Farmers, agricultural workers, and family and community members who’ve been impacted by injuries, fatalities, or close calls. Told in their own words, their experiences provide valuable information to learn what went wrong and how to prevent or avoid similar incidents. Read Story
“It was during a drought and the ground was dry and hard,” Orebaugh said. “I started sliding and I pushed the brakes, but I didn’t have any traction and kept sliding sideways.” Orebaugh was losing control. “When the mower’s tongue caught the rear tire I just hung on.” Read Story
Just one day earlier, Craig and Valerie had discussed his plan to vacuum 500 bushels of corn out of a neighbor’s grain bin since the bin auger wasn’t working. The intention was to vacuum out the grain and load it onto a truck to make room for the next year’s harvest.
“When I heard those sirens, my thought was I hoped I had turned our coffee pot off,” Valerie said. “I never imagined emergency responders were racing to help Craig.” Read Story
“I’d heard stories in the military about landmine victims still feeling like they had limbs… so I resolved to feel my way down my leg to determine how badly I was hurt.” Brad Guse looks back, explaining how he ended up with his foot and leg caught in an operating silage blower, a fateful incident that primed his advocacy for farm safety. Read Story
“How did you ever survive this?” was the question David Endorf’s neighbors asked when they saw where he was pinned under an ATV in a steep ditch. Endorf explains what got him into – and out of – a “heck of a predicament.” His advice comes from a thoughtful look-back at that day. Read Story
A bolting bovine and broken bones. Susan Littlefield tells her story about her son’s advice and an injury that was more serious than she realized, yet could have been much, much worse. Read Story
Jerry and Julie Nelson look back 30 years to the unforgettable summer day he “should have died.” He was doing something he’d done hundreds of times before on his family’s dairy farm – fixing a clog in a manure pump. Read Story
Leon Sheets was engulfed in a flash fire that left 20% of his body with second- and third-degree burns. He was pressure washing in his confinement building when an electric spark ignited methane gas released from foaming manure. Read Story
“Live today like you are going to die tomorrow, but farm today like you are going to farm forever.” Mike Biadasz loved farming. Read Story
“The doctor .. said ‘I remember that; it was talked about, it was used as a learning opportunity for the medical community.’ Because it is so rare, you don’t hear about this happening. If you do, you hear it because somebody died; it’s not because somebody lived. And that is with me every, every single day: that he could have died; he could not be here.” Read Story
When the ATV tipped, he knew the outcome would be bad. He heard his thigh bone snap when 700 pounds of equipment rolled over him. Read Story
Brian Egel is a farm safety advocate. At age 8, his left arm was entangled in the auger of a grinder-mixer, resulting in amputation below the shoulder. Read Story
“Many eyes make less fools.” – Rick Friday Friday took a risk while working alone that he wouldn’t have done if someone was watching. Read Story
Taking a shortcut when you know it’s not safe. I did it, and I paid a price. Why do we do it? Read Story