18 www.PrairieFarmer.com ◆ November 2007
Awful ironies of life on a farm
For
Starters
By CHERRY BRIESER
STOUT
I
T was an almost perfect Indian
summer day when I went to visit Russ
and Marilyn Rosenboom on their
Geneseo farm this fall. I enjoyed the
beautiful drive through the countryside
and fleets of farm equipment harvesting
a year’s worth of hard work.
But it was one of those times when I
was struck by the cruel twists of irony
that come with the dangerous game of
farming. I’ve long struggled to reconcile the good life in rural America, with
the fact that farming is one of the most
deadly occupations in America.
I was looking to the Rosenbooms for
insights on farming’s dual nature.
We discussed the details of Russ’s
combine accident a year ago, and the
couple recounted a number of acquaintances they know who have been killed
or maimed in farm accidents.
My visit with the Rosenbooms came
on the heels of Farm Safety Week and
an especially tragic period of harvest
fatalities.
As I left their farm, the funeral of a
little boy named Charles Frymoyer was
starting some 25 miles away, just across
the Illinois-Iowa border. On the pre-
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vious Sunday, the Moscow, Ia., boy was
playing at home in front of an unhitched
and empty grain wagon when it started
rolling. He started to run, but fell and
was run over by a wagon wheel. Charles
had just celebrated his third birthday
the week before the accident.
A child’s death is a parents’ worst
nightmare and a sad reminder to all
farm families that young children are at
high risk for machinery runover.
Two other Iowa farmers died the
same weekend. In northwest Iowa,
Donald Bryan, 62, of Dickens died in a
tractor accident when he lost control of
a wagon of soybeans while going down
a hill. In southern Iowa, William Kirby,
80, died when his tractor rolled over
and pinned him underneath.
In northern Illinois, at a grain elevator near Mazon, Access Ag grain elevator manager Sean Garkey, 33, became
trapped in a bin of soybeans. He and coworker James Knox entered the bin to
clear a plug. Once they broke through
the debris, the beans started flowing.
Sean was able to shove his co-worker
towards a ladder before he was sucked
into the grain. Jim was able to escape,
but Sean suffocated before rescuers
could reach him.
In an ironic twist, Sean’s funeral was
delayed while his brother, who is engaged in another perilous profession,
was contacted to come home from Iraq.
Illinois agriculture mourns the loss of
this bright and talented young man, and
offers its condolences to the Garkey
family; Sean’s wife, Audre; and their two
young daughters.
In central Illinois, another life was
lost in a grain bin accident when farm
employee Donald McIver, 40, of Illiopolis
died at Garver Farm near Decatur on
Oct. 17.
To every farmer and person involved
in the grain-handling business, the tragedies serve as an object lesson on the
danger of flowing grain and a warning to
stay out of any bin with the auger running, under all circumstances.
In search of safer ways
Virtually every rural community is
touched by a farming accident at some
time. About 9,000 people are injured
every year across the U.S. Farmers and
their families are exposed to unique
hazards, with most fatalities occurring
in the busy fall and spring seasons.
Ten years ago, in this publication,
I shared the story of farm fatalities in
my own family. My brother, father and
grandfather died in three separate farm
accidents, all within 1 mile of each other
near the tiny community of Mineral in
Bureau County.
No, it’s not easy to share personal
tragedies in a public way, but I think it’s
important. It can be a part of the healing
process and, most importantly, it can
help avert another tragedy.
I can’t think of a better investment
for farm families than to build an awareness of farm dangers and taking steps to
make farms safer.