Dairy farmer to resume cross-country trip
Weeks after his wife was killed in a tragic accident, Henk Schuurmans says he’ll carry on in September
— An Elmira dairy farmer who lost his wife on a crosscountry tractor trip is planning to complete the journey in her memory.
Bettina Schuurmans was killed July 9 when the John Deere she was riding in was rear-ended by a semi-trailer on a divided highway outside of Saskatoon.
Henk Schuurmans was seriously injured in the crash, left with a broken pelvis and shattered ribs. The couple had been travelling to the West Coast on their tractor as part of their Canadian Milk Tour to promote family-run dairy farms.
Schuurmans, 55, now says he wants to try the journey again, this time in the family pickup truck with his children along for the ride.
He plans to leave in September, as soon as he’s healed up. His wife’s funeral was held at the farm last week.
“It’s his idea. He and his family are the driving force behind it,” said Wendell Schumm, a family friend.
“He knows what he wants to do, and he wants to honour Bettina’s memory. He’s quite a guy.”
Canada’s dairy farming community has responded strongly to the Schuurmans’ story, sending tens of thousands of dollars in donations to the family.
That support is part of the reason Henk Schuurmans wanted to get back on the road.
“The support they got, and the support he’s had since the accident, that’s meant a lot to him,” Schumm said. “I think that’s why he wants to finish the thing and connect with the people who showed them support.”
The RCMP continue to investigate the fatal collision, meanwhile, and say it could be another
month before they have enough information to decide whether or not to lay charges against the driver of the truck.
Henk Schuurmans, who was left in critical condition by the crash, has difficulty walking and still has a long road to recovery ahead.
But his friend said he admires Schuurmans’ determination to get better and finish the campaign to draw attention to the plight of Canada’s dairy farmers.
“I think he’s doing amazingly well,” he said.
“He’s recovering very nicely ... I don’t know that I could have the positive outlook and energy that he has right now.”