Farmers: Stay Safe!

Last Tuesday, my husband nearly lost his life in a farm accident.  He was grinding feed and heard a "noise".  So he pulled back the guard on the grinder and bent over to listen. He thought he was far enough away from the PTO shaft, but he was not.  It caught the pocket of his sweatshirt and slammed him down on top of the PTO.  My husband had on 5 shirts - a t-shirt, 2 long-sleeved shirts and 2 heavy Carhartt sweatshirts.  It ripped every one of his shirts off.  My husband is very strong and somehow, by the grace of God,
he pushed his hand against something on the grinder and held his head away from the moving wheels and parts until all of his shirts were ripped off and then he fell backwards.  At least that is what he thought. A few days later we looked at the machinery and there was no place he could have braced himself without his arm being ripped off. He actually was about to be torqued over the PTO and knew he could not get out of the situation and thought his life was over. Somehow he woke up on the ground, in the snow, with no shirts on and he was 30 feet away from the still spinning PTO and he had not been flipped over. He cut his throat when he was pulled down on the PTO and barely missed his jugular vein. 
This is a wake up call for everyone.  My son, who is a John Deere mechanic, came down to help milk the cows and do the chores while my husband recovered.  I told my son that I hate farm equipment, because it is so dangerous. His words to me were,"Yes, but it is usually operator error."  He is so right.                              So everyone......PLEASE be careful.  Leave the guards in place.  Stay away from the PTO shaft and for goodness sake, don't step over the PTO while it is running.

I am so thankful my husband is alive.  He is really a careful person.  But one mistake, one split second, can cost you your life.  Don't let this happen to you!