THE BIG INTERVIEW

IT happened in the blink of an eye. No stranger to machinery, Richard Weldon, didn’t think twice about fixing the broken harvester on his farm in Rush, North Dublin, on a cold November morning in 2011.

The high-flying parsnip farmer, who was turning over €2m a year on his 400ac holding that he ran with his brother Jackie, was too busy thinking about the tough harvest ahead, spraying that had to be done and the supermarkets trucks en-route to collect their vegetables for the week.

“I never thought about accidents when I was farming. Between the pressure from supermarkets and worries about the weather, I was working around the clock. I was going around like a zombie. My wife, Philomena, would say ‘you look like an accident waiting to happen’. I didn’t listen to her but she could see it and it happened,” he said.

Richard and Jackie Weldon took over the family parsnip business from their father in 1992. Under their stewardship the initial 40ac enterprise, ballooned into a thriving business and the duo became the biggest parsnip growers in the country.

“We were supplying every shop in Ireland except Tesco. We were supplying 26 Superquinn shops. Feargal Quinn was regular in the yard - he’d a new pair of rubber boots on him every time!” he said.

“Dunnes Stores and Quinnsworth came on stream and it we just built and built and built. Then Aldi and Lidl came on board and made us realise there was a market for trays of small parsnips that we had been throwing out for pig and cattle feed,” said Mr Weldon.

With 22 full-time staff, debts of just €300,000, and a signifi- cant and steady annual income, life was good but relentless on the Weldon farm.

“All we were doing was working. We didn’t live a hectic life, we played an odd game of golf,” said the 57-year-old father of two.

But over time success changed. “It went from working for yourself to working for supermarkets, and that’s what it has become for all growers. The pressure has multiplied, you can’t just enjoy watching the crops grow anymore,” he said.

However tough things were before the accident, they quickly spiralled out of control after that fateful morning when his resident mechanic was away on holidays.

“I went out before the lads started harvesting to fix the machine myself. It looked simple to do but I cut the wrong thing and I got wrapped up in it.

“My arm was twisted completely around in a circle from the elbow down. I was caught for 18 minutes before a farmer down the road heard me roaring and came running. It took over an hour to get me out of it,” he said.

Mr Weldon was rushed to hospital where a surgeon informed him that the tendons in his left arm had been separated.

The lack of circulation in his arm for 18 minutes had damaged his arm to the point that he would never have the full use of it again.

“Me not working? I never believed him for a second. But two months later, when they removed the plaster off and I saw my arm properly I knew I was in serious trouble,” he said.

He said if he was a livestock farmer it would have been easier to manage the injury.

“You can feed cattle with

I WAS CAUGHT IN THE THE HARVESTER FOR 18 MINUTES BEFORE A MAN DOWN THE ROAD HEARD ME ROARING — IT TOOK AN HOUR TO GET ME OUT OF IT