This report is made possible by Specialty Hybrids.
If you let your guard down, a farming accident can happen and change your life.
“June 7, we were moving large, round bales of hay into the barn, and it was starting to rain,” says Gary Parr, Specialty Hybrids dealer from Charlotte. “I was in a rush, and I was caught between the skid steer boom and the skid steer and shattered my pelvis. That was 100 percent the result of me hurrying and being in a rush.”
Since his accident, he’s been through physical therapy, trying to get on his feet by September 2 at the soonest. As farmers are getting ready to hit the fields for harvest, Parr is hoping his story will serve as a cautionary tale.
“Typically at harvest time, we [work] long hours, sometimes several days in a row, and you get tired,” he says. “You might stop thinking as clearly and rush to beat a rain. Today, I would trade a few bales of wet hay for not having my accident 100 percent of the time.”
Parr says safety should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind when working on the farm, no matter the season.
“We’ve been around it so long, and we tend to get a little nonchalant with safety,” he says. “I’ve been doing this for 30, 40 years, and we just take being safe for granted. It’s not worth your life or your health.”
Parr has been following his doctor’s orders to a T. He says he’s cautiously optimistic to be in the combine by October 10.
