Tim Papworth is a third-generation British potato farmer and farm accident survivor who “learnt safety by accident”. Some years ago, he was changing a light bulb in a potato store when he slipped, fell and sustained life-changing injuries, which have impacted him mentally and physically, as Catherina Cunnane reports for That’s Farming.
By sharing his story, as part of Yellow Wellies’ (Farm Safety Foundation) campaign, he hopes that he can prevent “this happening to someone else”. The accident has made him slow down, and now, he thinks about “every single process every single day”.
An air ambulance flew him to Addenbrooke Hospital in Cambridge, where he spent five weeks in a drug-induced coma. He broke all ribs on the left-hand side of his body and was paralysed, had a punctured lung, two bleeds on his brain and could not speak, which meant that the only way he could communicate was by writing notes on paper.
Tim had a titanium plate fitted on one side of his skull and has made a full recovery apart from impaired hearing in his left ear.
The video below can also be watched on YouTube here.
Source: That’s Farming. Read the full story here
Cover photo: Credit and courtesy That’s Farming.