Photo: abc7ny.com
Kurt Kaser from Pender, Nebraska, has been working as a grain farmer for 40 years and he could do most of his chores with his eyes closed. That’s what he relied on the day of his accident.
Well, that and his farming equipment. It was the latter that betrayed him and ultimately cost him his leg: Kaser was alone on the farm that day when, in a moment’s inattention, his foot got stuck in the corn hopper.
Speaking with ABC News, Kaser knows that it was his mistake that led to this and he owns up to it. He also says he’s speaking out because he wants to make sure other farmers don’t end up like him, that is, having to saw off his own leg just so he could survive.
“Stepped into the hopper in the little hole. It just sucked my leg in and I was trying to pull it out, but it kept pulling,” Kaser recalls. He was unloading corn and he came out of his truck, not even thinking that stepping into the hopper would lead to anything bad. After all, he’d probably done it before.
This time, though, it was different, as his leg got stuck in the hole. He realized he would soon lose consciousness from the blood loss and that he would probably die there too because there was no one else around and he didn’t have a phone to call for help.
So, he reached inside his pocket and took out his pocket knife, and started sawing at the leg to free himself. Kaser says he could hear the nerves popping as he cut through them. Miraculously, he stayed consciousness throughout the whole thing and managed to crawl 150 feet to the farm, to call for help. In the back of the ambulance, he was still very much alert.
He’s been doing occupational therapy at the hospital and will continue recovery at home, before being fitted with a prosthetic leg. He says he wants to go back to farming because that’s what he’s been doing his entire life and he had no plans of stopping now, just because he made a very stupid mistake around the equipment.
“It is what it is,” Kaser says. “Make the best of it is all you can do. It could have always been worse.”
Speaking with ABC News, Kaser knows that it was his mistake that led to this and he owns up to it. He also says he’s speaking out because he wants to make sure other farmers don’t end up like him, that is, having to saw off his own leg just so he could survive.
“Stepped into the hopper in the little hole. It just sucked my leg in and I was trying to pull it out, but it kept pulling,” Kaser recalls. He was unloading corn and he came out of his truck, not even thinking that stepping into the hopper would lead to anything bad. After all, he’d probably done it before.
This time, though, it was different, as his leg got stuck in the hole. He realized he would soon lose consciousness from the blood loss and that he would probably die there too because there was no one else around and he didn’t have a phone to call for help.
So, he reached inside his pocket and took out his pocket knife, and started sawing at the leg to free himself. Kaser says he could hear the nerves popping as he cut through them. Miraculously, he stayed consciousness throughout the whole thing and managed to crawl 150 feet to the farm, to call for help. In the back of the ambulance, he was still very much alert.
He’s been doing occupational therapy at the hospital and will continue recovery at home, before being fitted with a prosthetic leg. He says he wants to go back to farming because that’s what he’s been doing his entire life and he had no plans of stopping now, just because he made a very stupid mistake around the equipment.
“It is what it is,” Kaser says. “Make the best of it is all you can do. It could have always been worse.”
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