By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

SPRING VALLEY, Ohio — Greene County, Ohio farmer Gary Wical, 61, lost both legs at the knees due to a farming accident two years ago. When he spotted a photo of a father sharing a seat on a tractor fender with his young son in a recent issue of Farm World, it brought back horrible memories of that tragic, cold, winter day.
He contacted editors at Farm World last week in hopes of not only sharing his tragic mishap, but shedding a little light on the dangers of working around farm equipment.

“It was Feb. 6, 2006 — I remember that day well,” Wical said. “It was about zero degrees outside. The pit in my farrowing house was full, and I needed to pump the liquid manure. I hitched the manure wagon to the tractor.”

Wical was operating a 90-horsepower, Farmall 806 tractor. It was a procedure that he had done hundreds of times without incident.
“As I was pumping the manure I walked up to the tractor to look at the pressure gauge,” he added. “I was wearing loose, ragged coveralls, ones that should have been thrown away. Suddenly, the turning shaft grabbed my pants at both knees. Unfortunately, the tractor was running at full RPM.”

Instantly, Wical’s legs were wrapped around the power take-off shaft. Wical’s torso was slammed quickly to the ground. His legs were twisted and mangled by the machinery. Wical has a long, black scar on the back of his head, one he received after being hit by a valve pipe after the entanglement.

“I was knocked out briefly,” he said. “When I came to I was laying prone on my elbows. My feet were sticking straight up by the power take-off shaft, turned at a 90-degree angle. The tractor was slowed immediately after the accident because it was low on hydraulic fluid, and it allowed the clutch to slip. Otherwise, I would have bled to death.”

He was in the barn alone but somehow managed to call his wife in the house with his cell phone. Roughly 45 minutes later was airlifted to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

“I went through intensive surgery. Three days later I woke up with no legs,” Wical recalled.

His lower limbs were amputated at the knees. Without knees, one is unable to use artificial legs.

“I made two serious mistakes that day,” he said. “First, I had pants on that should have been thrown away. Second, the front shield to the power take-off shaft was taken off because I was working on it a few days earlier. I was constantly replacing bent pins and failed to put the shield back on.”

So when Wical spotted the photo of the man and boy sharing a tractor seat with disc in tow, it reminded him of hazards found on the farm. He also wanted to issue a caution to farm parents of small children.

“Most young boys and girls learn to drive tractors at an early age, and you can’t keep them from wanting to learn,” Wical said. “And if you wait until they’re 16 or 17 years old to use the machinery for the first time, they’ll have other interests by that time - like driving their own car or going to work off the farm. My only wish is that farmers and their children take precautions when using farm machinery. It’s just so dangerous.”

Preventive measures are being taken by officials in most states each year. Many counties in each state conduct annual farm safety days, with the target audience being adults as well as children of farmers and ranchers. In most states, extension services sponsor the events, which are supported by local fire and rescue teams.