‘The bale rolled over my head and my neck broke’
A GROUP of Roscommon students have taken action on farm safety by creating a special film that highlights how ordinary jobs can pose extraordinary dangers inside the farm gate.
The educational film, made by Roscommon CBS transition year students and their ag science teacher, is presented by Irish and Leinster rugby player, Sean O’Brien.
The Carlow farmer introduces viewers to some courageous people whose lives have been impacted by farm accidents - ranging from minor incidents to tragic fatalities.
The sports star also shares a recent hazardous experience he endured on his family farm when he suffered cramps in his arms and a pain in his head after accidentally inhaling fumes while scraping out a slurry tank.
“When I went to the doctor he said I probably got a whiff of gas and it made me very aware of the precautions around the use of slurry and agitating and making sure guards and covers are well in place,” he said.
The film, which has been viewed almost 6,000 time on YouTube, also features a harrowing story from Kerry TD, Michael Healy-Rae.
“A cow was after calving and she was out on the slats, she was always a very quiet cow. For no reason in the world, she just turned on me. She was particularly vicious. She got me in the corner, up against the bars,” said Mr Healy-Rae whose son and farm hand were in another shed nearby.
“She broke my ribs and the minute I went down she started standing up on top of me. In a very short length of time, there was a lot of damage done,” he said.
“Nine times out of 10 I’m farming on my own and if I had been on my own that day I would not have come out of the pen alive.”
“I don’t care how used to your animals you are and how many thousands of times you have walked through them, never ever be in a pen without having a good stick in your hand, farmers need to get into the habit of that,” he said.
Stephen Cluskey, from north county Dublin, also tells the traumatic story of breaking his neck after falling off a bale when he was 18.
“Like most other 18-year-olds I thought I was invincible, I thought this happened to other people, little did I know.”
“I was on top of hay bale, someone was pushing it, I fell, I went to get up out of the way and the hay bale was still rolling and it caught the back of my head, pushed my head forward and broke my neck. It was like an electric shock went through my body, everything went dead,” he said.
Stephen spent the next three weeks in the Mater Hospital where he was told that he was paralysed from the neck down and had broken he second, third, fourth and fifth vertebrae in his spine.
The film, which launched last month and took over a year to complete, also tells the story of 15-year-old James Mooney, a student at Roscommon CBS, whose knee was broken after a ewe charged at him last summer.
The final interview is with Matt English whose son Donal (16) died in a devastating accident after a tractor and trailer toppled over in a field where he was helping out. Matt tells of Donal’s sporting talents at hurling and All-Ireland and Leinster success in athletics. He wanted to be an Olympic pole vaulter for Ireland. “We have the memories, that’s all we have,” he said.
Ear to the Ground presenter Ella Mc Sweeney also details hazards and how to avoid them.
Roscommon CBS teacher, Louise Gallagher, urges all schools, particularly in rural areas, to show the video to science students.
“If it encourages just one person to change a habit that’s what matters to us. The response has gone way beyond the classroom and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone involved,” she said.
Check out ‘CBS Roscommon Farm Safely’ on YouTube today.