The majority of the attention regarding safety on farms in recent times has been on those who have lost their lives. However, every year there are dozens of accidents on farms which leave people permanently disabled or with physical and emotional scars from the accident.

On 13 May 2009, Aengus Mannion from Sligo was working as farm manager on the Stackallen farm in Slane, Co Meath, when he suffered a serious accident.

As he was working with the stock, the brake on the teleporter on the farm was not applied and the machine was knocked by a cow. The next thing Aengus knew, he was pinned to a tree by the bucket of the digger with the sharp edge of the bucket buried into him just above the waist.

“I just started to shout and roar,” Aengus explained. “But nobody heard me. I was there for about an hour and a half on my own and I was losing a hell of a lot of blood. This is it I thought. I didn’t have my phone, nobody was around but I’m with my cattle, I could die happy,” he added.

After attempting to get the attention of any passers-by for over an hour, an elderly lady eventually heard Aengus’s calls. She alerted her son who found Aengus and called the ambulance. By this stage he had lost a significant amount of blood. What happened next was the most decisive moment in his life.

“I was rushed to Drogheda hospital and I was brought straight into theatre. A good bit of blood had been lost in that time. If I had been left until the morning, I would have been dead.

“They were looking at amputating definitely one leg and maybe even the other, but then at the last minute, another doctor saw me and my file and said the nerve endings were just severely bruised and not damaged beyond repair. It was a blessing – I was able to hold on to my legs.

“Once they knew that, I was brought straight to Beaumont. I was in hospital for five weeks,” he explained.

Over the following months and years, Aengus had to endure 18 further operations as well as gruelling walking and weights training. He essentially had to re-learn how to walk after being “powerless” from the waist down.

“The way the blade of the bucket dug into me was lucky, believe it or not. A few inches higher and it would have cut my spinal cord, lower and it would’ve taken my legs off. It missed all the vital organs. It was that close. I’m still doing physio, swimming and weights, but it’s all much, much better,” Aengus added.

After all the tough rehabilitation, Aengus is now walking aid-free for the past year or so. However, it was not just the physical rehab he had to work through, but also the mental aspect.

“I cannot commend the learning centre and all the doctors and nurses in all the hospitals enough. They are the ones that got me through it. They got me talking about it and all that’s to do with the mental side of things and it really helped. It’s something that a lot of people don’t realise. You need to be able to talk about these things. I never knew about that side of it at all,” he said.

“I’m just getting on with my life now again. The past is the past and I want to enjoy myself again. I won’t be running any marathons, but at least I’m moving again.

“I’m a long time getting to where I am now and I have suffered a lot. I can’t urge people enough to be safe at all times on the farm. Despite everything, I’m one of the lucky ones at the end of the day,” he said.

Aengus now intends pursuing a role giving inspirational talks and lectures on his experience.