July 2, 2025

Survival and Surrender: A Farming Accident

Survival and Surrender: A Farming Accident

Episode 2.18


In this powerful and personal episode, Michael sits down with a friend from his hometown who shares the story of a farming accident that changed his life forever. This isn’t just about machinery or missteps. It’s about clarity in crisis. This is a story of tragedy, survival, and deep reflection. Of how quickly the status quo can shatter—and what really matters when it does. Whether you're on a farm or far from it, this conversation invites you to consider what you'd see clearly in your own moment of crisis—and what you might need to change before that day comes.


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License code: 2QZOZ2YHZ5UTE7C8


Find more Take 2 Theology content at http://www.take2theology.com

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We are back.
It's like a year later.

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Since the last time I was here.
Since the last time you recorded

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when we were.
Doing basketball teams.

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Yeah, we're, we're drafting
basketball teams.

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This was on a Sunday afternoon I
think.

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00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:16,880
Yes.
And then we had this great

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discussion which we got some
feedback on about Calvinism.

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Did you?
And Arminianism.

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Everyone decided that I was
correct.

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I think they decided you're
correct that it's not the most

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important.
Thing.

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Well, that's that's what I
meant.

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So that was Sunday.
I think so.

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And then Saturday, I think it
was just the like 6 days later.

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Right.
We got a horrible call that

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you'd been in a bad farming.
Act was it?

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OK, now I see what you're saying
now.

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So that it was only a week after
we had.

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I think so.
OK.

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00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,480
All right.
But I know that I looked, I

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watched that recently because
after you asked me to do this

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again and I said, well look,
I've got both legs, so I

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couldn't remember if I did or
not.

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Yeah.
So we got a prayer.

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I think it was just a text that
went out on the WBC prayer

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chain.
Probably you were already in

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router or there by the time it
got that.

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Far.
Oh, you think so?

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Was it in the morning 0?
It was in the.

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Morning.
Oh yeah, I know what time.

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Well, I don't know what time it
happened, but I sent a text to

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my dad and my brother at 8:54
AM.

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Yeah, I know that.
So I think we found out around

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10 or so, yeah.
Yeah, I don't know if I would

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even have been at the hospital
yet or not.

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I don't know.
OK, It's hard to.

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Well as you may or may know this
is Brian Coles needs no

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introduction, but I will
introduce him.

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That's always funny when people
say this man needs no

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introduction and they like spend
5 minutes introducing them.

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But we're going to be doing a
two-part interview about the

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accident that happened a year
ago.

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So like this.
So we're recording this on what,

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June 10th?
It happened on the 8th and it.

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Happened on the 8th so you're
one year anniversary for the

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accident was just two.
Days ago I think.

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Yeah.
So you may be a remember that

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one of the time honored
traditions we have for our

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guests is that they have to say
the magic words to get us out of

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the banter time and into the the
official time.

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Do you remember what they are?
Do we need to take it to the

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next level or?
I think that's what we need to

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do.
Let's do that.

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From the hearts of the Low
Country in South Carolina.

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It's the Take Two podcast where
we take theology to the next

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level.
All right, so farmer

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extraordinaire.
I'm not sure about that,

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especially in nowadays.
We actually got the farm

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together some.
Yes.

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Back in the day.
Back in high school days, I

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guess.
Or college.

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It was college.
It was in between my sophomore

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and junior years I believe, of
college farmed, and I remember

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walking by a granary.
I think it was the Lindsay Benz.

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OK.
And there was this canonical

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pit.
Yeah.

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And your dad said if that
thing's running, don't ever get

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close to this pit.
Oh.

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Right.
It's dangerous.

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It's dangerous.
So you've been farming for a

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number of.
Years a long times 1990 eights

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when I got out of college, but I
did it the whole time I was

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growing up too.
And takes a math degree to farm,

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right?
It does.

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That's that's as soon as I got
my math done, I came back home

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to the farm.
Turns out I didn't know what I

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was wanting to do, but I ended
up farming.

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I've been there ever since.
And so this is like a normal

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day.
Yes, it was.

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I was harvesting wheat and I was
getting ready for the for the

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next day.
We needed to clean the machine

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out because we were changing
varieties of seed.

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We were actually growing wheat
for seed production and that

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means it needs to be completely
pure from the previous variety

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we had been harvesting.
And this is something that you

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probably have done.
I've done it at least every year

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once, probably more than once
every year for the past 25 years

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or longer.
And your mic is slipping down.

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I don't know.
I'll have to just.

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I can just tell you.
Yeah, just give it a push.

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I don't know.
There you go.

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And so do you remember anything
specific going on that morning?

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Well, this is it's a job nobody
likes to do.

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These machines are large and
they don't clean out on their

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own very well.
So you have to take quite a bit

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of time with air compressor and
A and a wand and blow out stuff

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that doesn't come out on its
own.

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It's very dusty.
You get it all in your face and

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everything else and it takes a
long time.

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It's just a real pain.
Nobody likes to do it.

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And I was thinking water, but
it's air.

102
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No, it's it's air because if you
used water the stuff would get

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all sticky and sprout and
everything like that.

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So you have like a big error.
Yeah, it was long, 3 or 4 feet

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long with air compressor with a
line running down to the ground.

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The truck, I say down to the
ground.

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A lot of the work is done on the
ground, but but where I was

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actually hurt was up on top of
the machine.

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So this is where I'm I'm
assuming I was never farming

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during the harvesting season, I
was pulling levees right?

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Disc and planting maybe?
Did some planning.

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Did quite a bit of planning.
I did some planning.

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Yes, yeah, lots of field work.
Yeah, bunch of field work, but I

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never did any and we did some
water work, pulled levees in the

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beans.
I think the year I was working

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was the first year y'all used
polypipe.

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Oh really?
Well, we still using it.

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That's a kind of a that's a
hassle as well.

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Hot work.
So we those are some so I never

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so, but I'm assuming this that
this area is like the central

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place that seed goes in when
you're combining.

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And then like if you see lots of
times you see these pictures and

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these 10,000 acre fields in Iowa
where they're combining corn and

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you know you have these combines
and you have a truck running

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through it.
I'm assuming this is the area

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that the seed initially goes to
after its combine and then this

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auger is what would shoot it out
to a truck behind it or or no

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well.
There's a tank that holds about

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3 or 400 bushels of grain and as
you go through the field and

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pull the grain in, it separates
the grain from the husks and

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puts it in this tank.
And when you, what you're

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talking about seeing is if you
get full, you swing the auger

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out and drop it on a truck or a
grain card or something else

134
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like that.
And that is where I was up in

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this tank, which is large.
It's right behind the cab and

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it's the top of the machine, and
that doesn't clean out all the

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seed just by running the auger.
So I'm blowing the seed to get

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it to that spout where it can go
out.

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We were just dropping it on the
ground.

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We're just cleaning out what was
left behind and the way that it

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falls in there.
It's a large tank and there's

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two horizontal augers that carry
it to a certain place and then

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it goes up and out that spout.
So is there like a main auger in

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the bottom but some horizontal?
Augers that there's two

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horizontal augers in the bottom
and they go to a vertical auger

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that they carry the grain to a
vertical auger which sends it

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out to the truck.
And all this whole area's

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sloped.
It is sloped.

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Yes, it is sloped.
Now the augers have cover over

150
00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:11,960
them, but there's a gap because
that has to get the grain out.

151
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So and, and nowadays this
equipment is a lot larger than

152
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it was 25 years ago when I first
started doing this.

153
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And I've often wondered if that
gap that lets the grain fall

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into the auger would have been
wide enough back in those days

155
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when I, in, when I first got out
of college to fall into I, I

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don't know the answer to that,
but I know that these larger

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machines, the, they can carry
more grain and they, and they

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unload it quicker.
So the gap is large enough for

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my foot to go in and, and yes,
the sides are sloped.

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And also it had begun to
sprinkle a little bit.

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And I can't tell you for certain
what happened.

162
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So you don't like remember
minutes leading up to it or

163
00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,200
anything like that?
Oh, I remember doing, I'm doing

164
00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,040
the work.
I, I really don't have any

165
00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,480
memory gaps from and I never
lost consciousness.

166
00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,920
So I, so I remember everything.
It's just, I'm just doing what I

167
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always do and I, I just know
that at some point I slipped

168
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and, and my foot falls into this
gap.

169
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This is the gap between the
horizontal auger and the ground.

170
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And, and the floor, well, the
gap would be, there's a cover

171
00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,280
over the auger, but there's a
gap to let the grain fall into

172
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it.
And so I fall in there, my foot

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goes into where the the auger is
running.

174
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And by the way, this is not
something you're supposed to be

175
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doing.
There are safety features on the

176
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combine where if you're not in
the seat, it can't be running or

177
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it won't only run for five
seconds or something.

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So we actually have a person sit
in the seat.

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There's a ladder on the back of
the machine that you have to

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climb up to get up here.
That ladder has to be folded up

181
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or it won't run.
And all over the place, every

182
00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,920
year, farmers are doing this
thing that I'm doing, breaking

183
00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,000
the rules, breaking the safety
rules, having somebody sit in

184
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,600
the seat and go in here and blow
this, save some time to clean

185
00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,280
this out.
Our farm will never be doing it

186
00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:24,640
this way again.
And I honestly, I doubt that

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anyone in my county will do it
again.

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I've heard that comment from
several people because yes,

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00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,160
we've all done it.
And it's, it's farmers do

190
00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,520
dangerous things.
And, and it turns out sometimes

191
00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:40,840
we do foolish things.
And, and that's what happened

192
00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,720
after all this time, 25 or 30
years of, of doing this.

193
00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,480
Now I slip in there possibly
because of the rain.

194
00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:51,760
It wasn't a rain, but there was
sprinkle.

195
00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,320
I don't know if I stepped on a
wet spot and slipped like you

196
00:10:55,320 --> 00:11:02,320
said the the side is sloped, but
I fell down and it my foot goes

197
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:08,040
in there and this machine pulls
me towards the vertical auger

198
00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,040
for a short time and then it
turned loose.

199
00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,680
And when it turned loose and I
pulled my leg out, I saw a bone

200
00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:25,040
and it was disgusting and it was
terrifying and my reaction was

201
00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:29,360
considerable time of screaming
and banging on the window for my

202
00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:36,280
son to turn it off.
I could see the knot of my

203
00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:41,560
ankle.
You know, the not on the yes, I

204
00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:46,720
could see that exposed.
So just like in a war movie when

205
00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,360
you see somebody get their leg
blown off, I had about that same

206
00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,680
reaction.
I am shocked and terrified and

207
00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:59,040
it's natural.
I'm just screaming and it's I

208
00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:01,360
mean not on purpose.
It's just happening, you know,

209
00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,280
and I immediately try to climb
out of there.

210
00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:11,920
Now this tank is, if I'm
standing in the bottom of it,

211
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,120
you could see my head, but it's
still, it's a large tank and

212
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,680
it's got a couple of steps in
rails to climb out, which I did

213
00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,040
climb out, but I climbed out
with a foot missing.

214
00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:28,600
And I remember going to put that
foot down and realizing I

215
00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:32,120
couldn't use it.
It's just I was pretty wound up

216
00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:37,680
so I didn't have any trouble
getting out, but it was arms and

217
00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:42,920
one leg and desperation.
So how many people were there

218
00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,120
with you at this?
There was two.

219
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:49,560
There was one in the in the cab.
That was my son Samuel, my

220
00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:53,040
oldest.
He's about 22 at the time.

221
00:12:53,480 --> 00:13:01,040
And another young man, South
African worker, that's only was

222
00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,880
about 20, and he was on the
ground doing something, maybe

223
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:06,960
some other cleaning.
I'm, I'm not sure what he was

224
00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:11,680
doing, but he's probably
cleaning out his grain cart

225
00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:13,800
because we have to clean every
piece of equipment out.

226
00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:15,000
So I think that's what he was
doing.

227
00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:23,640
So I did have someone with me.
And so when I get out of the

228
00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:30,200
tank, there's a large flat place
behind this hopper, which is

229
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,360
where the engine is.
It's a large engine.

230
00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,960
Yeah, I saw.
It I saw you post a video yes

231
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,280
recently on.
Standing on top of it, I don't

232
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,720
know how tall.
Sorry.

233
00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:44,440
I don't know how tall the
machine is, but it's one of the

234
00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:50,360
larger machines that we use, and
this is at the very top of it.

235
00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,440
But the engine is large and it's
got to be covered, you know, to

236
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,840
keep stuff out of it.
So there's a large flat place

237
00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:06,160
and that's where I went to sit
down on the sat down and I took

238
00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,160
my belt off because I've seen TV
and I know what I have to do.

239
00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:16,000
Actually, I should mention, now
that I'm out and I'm standing

240
00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:21,720
upright, I see muscles hanging
out.

241
00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:30,560
I see that bone and I see blood
flow at a rate that changed my

242
00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,520
life.
It, it shocked me and, and

243
00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:38,680
terrified me.
And at that moment I realized

244
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,680
that there was a significant
chance that I would not survive.

245
00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:45,840
I'd never seen blood flow like
that.

246
00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:52,480
I, I told one time I was
speaking at the church and I, I

247
00:14:52,480 --> 00:15:00,080
referenced the verse in when God
is telling Noah that people who

248
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:05,240
murder other people will be put
to death because of, you know,

249
00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:06,760
that's not I'm selling the wrong
thing.

250
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:11,960
There's, it's when he's telling
Noah not to eat blood.

251
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,400
He's telling Noah not to eat
blood because the life is in the

252
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,360
blood.
And my life was flowing out of

253
00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:26,520
me at an alarming rate.
And so I knew from TV that I had

254
00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:28,520
to stop that.
That was my only hope.

255
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,960
Is the train going to bother us?
No, the train's fine.

256
00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,440
I think we'll, we'll, we'll edit
it out fine.

257
00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,440
So that I knew that the only
thing that mattered at the

258
00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,480
moment was to stop the blood
flow.

259
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:50,000
I was wearing a belt and I tied
it around my leg twice because

260
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,520
the first time I did it, I ran
the loop through the buckle like

261
00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,320
you would put it on, and I
didn't feel like that was good

262
00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,960
enough.
So I tied it in a knot and that

263
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:08,480
was all I could do.
So I'm sitting there thinking

264
00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:14,000
there's a pretty good chance
that this is my final hour and

265
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,760
I've done what I could do.
So I that's when I turned to

266
00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:24,080
God.
And it's interesting to me.

267
00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,440
At least I didn't ask him for my
life.

268
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,800
I wanted to live.
It was my daughter's birthday.

269
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:39,960
I had a son about to leave to go
on a vacation with some friends.

270
00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,960
I've got 10 kids and a wife at
home.

271
00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:52,720
I wanted to live, but my all I
said to God was that my life and

272
00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:58,480
my soul is in your hands and and
that's all that I said.

273
00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:08,760
And then I sent the texts to my
dad and my brother who farmed

274
00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,319
with with me and who knew where
I was.

275
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:19,839
And the text at 8:54 on Saturday
morning said ambulance, now I

276
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:26,359
might die.
And my dad got that text as he

277
00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:31,760
was trapped behind a train 20 or
30 minutes away.

278
00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,600
I'm not sure where my brother
Michael was.

279
00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:43,440
He got there pretty quick, but
it was up to them to call 911.

280
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,080
And.
So Sam or the the other guy

281
00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,720
hadn't called 911.
Yet I think they had I, I don't

282
00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:52,600
know.
I think that Samuel called them.

283
00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:57,520
They called my dad and, and
Michael, he was a little

284
00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:03,440
hysterical, but I don't know if
he called them before he came

285
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,400
and got me down or after.
Probably after would be my

286
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:08,000
guess.
So.

287
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:16,040
So that means they had probably
called first, I thought, for the

288
00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:19,200
first time this week or last
week.

289
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,120
But why didn't I call 911?
That's the first time.

290
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,120
It's a year later.
And I think, well, why didn't I

291
00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:27,360
do?
And then pretty quickly I

292
00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:31,960
realized why.
It's because I thought that I

293
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,840
might be about to die.
I didn't know how much

294
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:40,840
consciousness I had left.
And I called my wife and that's

295
00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,400
the only phone call I made.
I sent the text.

296
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:47,960
And then I called my wife and
apologized for being such a bad

297
00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,440
husband and told her I was hurt
and that I didn't know what was

298
00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,360
going to happen, but that I
loved her and for her not to

299
00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:59,080
come out there.
And that was all the

300
00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:02,400
communication.
I I didn't send any more texts

301
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,760
or I didn't know how much longer
I would be awake.

302
00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:15,160
My son Samuel showed up.
He climbed up there and carried

303
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,320
me down to the ground.
It's 10 feet off the ground.

304
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,360
So this is you're out of the
hopper, I'm out of the hopper

305
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,440
platform on top, tearing you
from the platform to the ground.

306
00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,560
Top of the engine platform so
there's a couple of steps down

307
00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,880
to another level and then
there's a ladder down to the

308
00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:37,240
ground and he first had to get
the ladder down which we had had

309
00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:42,280
some was difficult to do but he
was determined and and he

310
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:47,520
carried me down from there
without dropping me and and even

311
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,760
this is I don't know how that
happened.

312
00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,920
He's not any bigger than I am.
He's younger and and, you know,

313
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,800
strong but.
He doesn't have 25 years of

314
00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,560
farming strength.
No, no, not like that.

315
00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:05,000
And he, he carried me down to
the ground and I never wasn't

316
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,200
dropped.
I didn't fall.

317
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:10,760
That's that's a miracle in
itself.

318
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:18,040
Now, when I got to the ground,
he wanted Samuel, my son wanted

319
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,160
to throw me in the truck and run
me to the the hospital.

320
00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:28,560
And I knew that that would be a
mistake, that I hadn't stopped

321
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:35,760
the bleeding good enough.
And if I pass out these boys,

322
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,640
they did everything I told them
to do.

323
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:41,080
And they did a great job saving
my life, but they didn't know

324
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:45,360
what to do on their own.
And they were wound up as well.

325
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,960
They found me another strap to
tie around my leg.

326
00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,160
And I remember telling them
because they were nervous about

327
00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,240
it, you know, and I said no,
both of you pull as hard as you

328
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:02,880
can pull, which they did.
And essentially we basically

329
00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:04,640
stopped the bleeding.
Or they did.

330
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:10,760
Later, I had a police officer
show up before the ambulance.

331
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,760
He also had a tourniquet.
I think when I when I arrived at

332
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,000
the hospital, I had three
different things tied around my

333
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,080
thigh and the bleeding was
basically stopped.

334
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:25,320
So, you know, I made it and I
never lost consciousness.

335
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:29,000
And I, and I really feel like
this could very likely be

336
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:34,560
miraculous because my blood
count at the hospital was 7.

337
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,320
I'm Speaking of hemoglobin when
it's supposed to be 14.

338
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,640
I used to say that me and I had
lost half my blood.

339
00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,080
I looked up, I'm real.
I'm real worried that I'm going

340
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,800
to exaggerate things.
So I started looking up and it's

341
00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:52,640
I may not have lost 50% of my
blood, but my blood count was

342
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:54,960
half of what it should was half
of what it's supposed to be.

343
00:21:55,880 --> 00:22:00,200
So I didn't know if I would stay
conscious, but I did the whole

344
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,880
time until they put me out in
the operating room.

345
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,800
I was, I was awake and alert.
I didn't get fuzzy or anything.

346
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,760
So it took you to Searcy.
Yes, that's another thing.

347
00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,200
I know.
I feel like I need a helicopter

348
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,400
and to be going to Little Rock
or Memphis.

349
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:19,000
I'm very serious.
That's got to happen.

350
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,880
And no, there's a little
rainstorm and the helicopters

351
00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,320
were grounded and I find that
out.

352
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:30,240
And it still, I don't know how
long this was that I didn't know

353
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:34,360
if I would live or not.
But when I heard that news, I'm

354
00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:37,280
thinking it just doesn't seem to
be my day.

355
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,120
You know, I'm not going to get
get out of this alive.

356
00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:43,320
That's that's what I'm thinking.
All right, so you're at Searcy

357
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,560
Hospital and I'm guessing you go
straight to the ER?

358
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:49,920
Oh yeah, and they are waiting on
me.

359
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:54,320
There is a room full of shocked
looking people.

360
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,640
The looks on those people's
faces when they see me come in.

361
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,680
There is another thing that now
I I feel pretty good about my

362
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,320
chances now that I'm at the
hospital.

363
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:07,880
Made it to the hospital
conscious I.

364
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:09,360
Feel like I'm going to live now.
It's.

365
00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:11,000
Like you've made it past the
corner.

366
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:16,400
But the look on those trauma of
people's faces, right, is like,

367
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,200
wow, I've never seen anything
like this.

368
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:20,560
You, you know, that's what it
looked like to me.

369
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,040
And that was full.
If we're flying in the the

370
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,720
flight attendants seem OK,
you're fine.

371
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:29,960
But if they seem like they're
worried then you should be

372
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:31,320
worried.
And you're saying basically you

373
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,800
experienced the flight
attendants being looking

374
00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:34,720
worried.
I would.

375
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,160
Say they did or at least they
looked like they hadn't seen

376
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,520
this before and and that really
surprised me.

377
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:46,680
But I talked to many nurses
during my 8 days in the hospital

378
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,640
and, and after, even then, they
were like, man, I can't believe

379
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,000
you made it.
You know, that kind of stuff.

380
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:55,720
They were, they were.
I made an impression at the

381
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,200
hospital, but with the folks
that saw me, yeah.

382
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,360
So I remember, I think we were
there for a week and you were

383
00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,040
recovering what I think you know
we.

384
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,880
Were oh, you were still in town?
Yeah, we were still in town for

385
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,760
the week after we were trying to
decide do we go visit them?

386
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:13,760
Because, you know, that's it's
awkward being in the hospital

387
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:14,840
and like everyone come and
visiting.

388
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,480
You got like half your body
showing and and that so we were

389
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:22,280
like, I think I may have called
you, I don't remember and just

390
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,520
said something.
I talked to a lot of people.

391
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,280
I probably would have told you.
You could come.

392
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:27,560
Yeah.
You probably did tell us, but I

393
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,720
was like.
Now I was in the ICU for two

394
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:36,480
days where you can only have two
visitors at a time and and stuff

395
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:38,760
like that.
So there are some people that

396
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:40,720
saw me in those two days though,
and.

397
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:50,360
So from there, I'm, you know, I
know that you had some ups and

398
00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:53,680
downs with the wound healing.
Even after I was out of the

399
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:54,360
hospital.
Right.

400
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,440
Well, from while you were in the
hospital and then maybe like a

401
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:02,880
couple of months.
Oh, well, I had several had five

402
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,120
or six surgeries, or I'll call
them surgeries.

403
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:11,800
The main surgery was amputation,
but there was, they have to go

404
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,240
back in and clean it.
You know, it's a dirty accident.

405
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,360
There's, there's pieces of wheat
and stuff in in there and

406
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:21,240
they're very determined to get
all of that out because I was in

407
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,960
danger of infection and I had
some cultures grow infection,

408
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,960
but I was never, it never got
out of hand.

409
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:32,560
They did a good job cleaning it
out several times.

410
00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,120
I I don't know how many times
while I was in the hospital that

411
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:35,960
that that.
Happened.

412
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,880
Did they give you pain stuff for
that or did well?

413
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,960
I was out for that.
It was it was that type of

414
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:51,720
surgery I didn't have.
Every time the surgeon dealt

415
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:57,320
with my leg while I was in the
hospital, I was I was put under

416
00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:01,920
the week or a few days after I
got out was the first time that

417
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:07,000
he unwrapped it without with me
being awake.

418
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,600
So I but it's about the pain
medicine.

419
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:18,000
Yes, I was on a lot of drugs and
I was the one of the nights in

420
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,800
the ICUI had a dream that I
think must have been fueled by

421
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,800
this.
I woke up thinking I was in a

422
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,720
had been in a war and it was
almost killed in an airplane.

423
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,640
And I start trying to get up and
and get out and everything.

424
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:38,040
And my wife was allowed to be
with me, which is against which

425
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,040
is not normal.
She was allowed to be with me

426
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,280
because, but she was a nurse
that worked at that hospital.

427
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,000
So that's part of the reason.
And, and she got in my face and

428
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,960
told me, no, you, you know,
you've been in an accident and,

429
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,400
and all of that.
And and I knew that stuff was

430
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:56,240
true, but that but that dream
seemed so real and I was so

431
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,720
terrified that that I was trying
to get out.

432
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:06,160
And then from the wound healing,
tell me about so you today

433
00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:10,960
you're wearing a prosthetic and
you know, and probably some of

434
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:16,200
the listeners know, but my dad
also had his leg amputated and

435
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,040
he never, the prosthetic thing
never really worked for him.

436
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,640
He tried it a little bit, but I
don't, I don't know that he was

437
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:26,160
as motivated because I think you
had to be pretty motivated to

438
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,800
get it to work.
Well, it's, there's a lot of

439
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:34,840
things that happen.
It, it's, it hurts it, it's hard

440
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:41,520
to do and you get discouraged
and all of those things.

441
00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:48,000
My circumstance was since it's a
traumatic injury and you're

442
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:53,000
talking about surgeries on and
and nerves ripped away and

443
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,880
things like that.
I I had a wound vac for 2 1/2

444
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:02,280
months.
So that means the skin that I'm

445
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,720
trying to put into this
prosthetic is brand new, You

446
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,520
know, it's just a few months
old.

447
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,600
So it's extremely tender and
difficult.

448
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:17,360
It was a, it feels like to me,
it was a long process, but when

449
00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:23,000
I look back, I didn't get a
prosthetic to try until the last

450
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,080
week of November.
And I could only wear it for a

451
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,520
couple of hours every other day.
And actually, I didn't even wear

452
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,560
it every other day part of the
time because it's, it hurt and,

453
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:38,080
and, and I wanted it for
Christmas, so for when the

454
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:41,280
family was all in.
So Christmas Eve was the

455
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:43,480
beginning of the time that I
wore it every day.

456
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:45,040
And I've worn it every day
since.

457
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,160
Not the same one but but.
Yeah, that was the other thing

458
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,080
because I, I dad would wear it
some and then he would say it

459
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,360
stopped fitting because I guess
your leg is changing because of

460
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:57,440
of the use.
And so then you got to go get

461
00:28:57,640 --> 00:28:59,960
refitted for a different 1.
And it just seemed like it was a

462
00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:05,280
long process for him.
It can change during the day

463
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,880
now.
Mine they told me I would have

464
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,560
to have another one this year
but I seem to have leveled out

465
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:17,680
on the shrinkage.
At least I've been in the same,

466
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:23,440
the same size for two or two or
three months now, which is

467
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,680
unusual.
It's very unusual.

468
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:31,400
Normally you're having to make
adjustments for it to work and

469
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:37,800
probably that's what he's
talking about and it what you

470
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,000
might have to make an adjustment
during the same day.

471
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:44,360
For example, when I was going
through that, you wear these

472
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:49,120
socks to take up space and you
can put on more or less or take

473
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:55,960
them off and I would have more
on at the beginning of the day

474
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,760
and then take some off at the
later on.

475
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,880
So there's a lot of that that
goes on.

476
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:04,880
That's it could be a real hassle
to someone and, and there are a

477
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:09,240
lot of people that are real
discouraged and, and all kinds

478
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,360
of things like that.
And not that I wasn't, I just,

479
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,840
yes, it takes some motivation,
it takes some endurance, some

480
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:21,640
pain, and you just need to
really want to do it.

481
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,200
Yeah, yeah.
All right, So I think we will

482
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:29,240
break off here and we'll call
this a good stopping point.

483
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:36,120
And then TuneIn next Thursday
for the second-half of our

484
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:38,960
interview with Brian, where
we'll talk about maybe some of

485
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:43,600
your reflections since this and
maybe change your career.

486
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,040
I don't know, you know, things
that you're things that you're

487
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,160
thinking about.
So, All right, so you know how

488
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:50,360
to to take us out of it too.
Remember.

489
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:51,640
Yeah.
No, I don't.

490
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,600
Oh, that's OK.
That's our take.

491
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:57,440
Thanks for listening to Take
Two.

492
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,760
Find us wherever you find
podcasts and on YouTube for

493
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:02,480
those who want to watch our
video cast.