A local man had a bad farm accident yesterday.  He was in a grain bin where a piece of equipment was running called a pigtail.  A pigtail is a type of auger that helps clean out the bin.  The pigtail moves along the ground, turning, and by its turning pulls up the grain and moves it out of the bin.  Roy says that normally its pretty easy to stay out of it's way or step over it.  But it surprised this fellow and caught him on his heel, cutting off part of his ankle.  Automatically, he reached down and it cut his hand diagonally from between the index and middle finger to his wrist, cutting off the last three fingers.  He was able to climb out of the bin, turn off the tractor that was running the auger and call for help.  We believe he was picked up by a flight-for-life helicopter and taken to a Denver hospital.  A neighbor was also called and he searched through the grain to find the man's missing part of ankle and hand to send along with him.  We heard that his hand has been sewn back together, but are unsure about his foot. 

Roy will tell me alternately that farming's not that dangerous and then that it's one of the most dangerous jobs out there.  I think both are true.  Most farmers probably make it through their career unscathed. It's just that with all that large machinery when things go wrong  there are big consequences.

Let's all pray that this neighbor makes a good recovery and regains his ability to farm another day!