Patrick O’Sullivan
Patrick O’Sullivan (77) is from Gortbuí, Beaufort, Co Kerry. He is married to Eileen with four children: Michael, Joe, Susie and Irene.
Patrick O'Sullivan from Gort Bui, Co. Kerry became trapped under his tractor for several hours when the handbrake wasn't engaged.
I’m not originally from a farming background. My father was a milesman on the railway.
When I was 16, I went to England where I worked on the motorways, driving heavy machinery. I came back to Ireland in 1969.
Every day, I get up at 8am, have a bit to eat and then I go out on the farm. I normally check the cows, making sure that they have grass and water, check the fencing, go around the farm with my quad, checking everything.
On the day of the accident, I went about my normal routine. When I returned to the yard, I decided to split a few blocks. I started my tractor and I came off to get something. I forgot to put on the handbrake and, before I knew where I was, the tractor was up on top of me. I knew that there was no one coming home before 7pm. My mind was made up. I knew that I’d have to stay there until then – I didn’t have a choice.
But then the neighbours came from the seaside. I started shouting and they came to my aid and they brought me to Tralee hospital. The doctors said that I moved stints in my heart trying to shove the tractor off myself.
My outlook on safety has changed as a result of the accident. I double-check everything.
My grandson, Jack Nagle, invented Tractor Safe Lock to try to prevent an accident of this nature from happening again. Tractor Safe Lock is a device that automatically engages the handbrake of a tractor when the operator exits the tractor. It is applied when the tractor is in neutral and there is no weight present on the weight sensor in the seat.
The handbrake is automatically applied. It is my hope that Tractor Safe Lock will eliminate accidents with handbrakes.
My one piece of advice is to be safe, and play safe. Be vigilant.
Angela Hogan
Angela Hogan is from Nenagh, Co Tipperary. She has been a civil servant for almost 20 years, working with Revenue.
Angela Hogan, from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, tragically lost her partner Brendan Kelly on 14 July 2011.
I have two children: Ronan and Grace. Ronan is 18 and Grace is nine. Ronan is passionate about farming and passionate about machinery. He’s hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps.
My partner, Brendan Kelly, has always been a farmer. He grew up on a farm and all his brothers are farming. His dad and his grandad before him were all farmers. He loved machinery and was very passionate about it. He was regularly called upon by everyone to have a look at their machines and see what was wrong with them. He was a big fan of Munster rugby and a big fan of Tipperary hurling.
Brendan would have considered the farm a safe place. He took his time doing things, so he was always very sure about the next move he was going to make.
On the day of the accident, 14 July 2011, it was a Thursday and the sun was shining. Brendan was out from early in the morning doing silage all day. I met him at lunchtime that day – that was the last time I spoke to him.
Brendan had just landed into the farmer’s field and the first bale was ready to be baled. But Brendan had to get into the machine to release a switch, because there was a buildup of dust on the switch. He climbed into the machine and unfortunately the machine came down on top of him and he was killed instantly.
At about 7.30pm that evening, my brother-in-law drove into the yard. He told me that Brendan had been killed.
Brendan and I had never discussed what the future of the farm would be if he ever went, so I had to rely on his family for guidance. There was no will made and we weren’t married. We just hadn’t got around to it. It created a lot of legal complications then because of that. It’s taken almost six years to get it sorted.
It’s very important to make a will. If you or your spouse knows nothing about farming and if they’re not from a farming background, it’s important to have a plan so that you know what the future of the farm is.
Nobody looks for an accident to happen and nobody thinks it will happen to them. It is vital that farm safety is a priority over everything else. It’s something that happens in a split second and suddenly your whole world is turned upside down.
Tommy Moynihan
Tommy Moynihan lives in Ballyseedy, Co Kerry, and has been farming all his life. He is married 25 years and has three children.
Tommy Moynihan lost his arm when it became entangled in a PTO.
Before the accident, I was always rushing around the place. Safety would have been the furthest thing from my mind. With regard to myself, I would have taken chances.
On the day of the accident, 20 December 2006, I carried out my normal jobs and fed everything. Then I was going to get out five loads of slurry. On my second load, I went around to the back of the slurry tank, put on the pipe and opened the valve at the back. Pressure was building up in the vacuum tank instead of sucking, so I ran up to the front to change the handle on the pump from pumping to sucking and it was then that it happened.
I became entangled in the PTO. My hand came off. It was 3ft away from me, but it looked perfect. The hydraulic hose then became entangled in the PTO. It was spinning around, hitting the drawbar each time. It was like a hammer hitting every second. At this point, I was stuck under the drawbar. To tell the truth, I thought that I was going to get a belt of that.
At the time, I had a man white-washing the walls. He heard me roaring and called my father. My father switched off the PTO shaft. It was like winning the lotto when that stopped going around; I knew that I was safe and that it could only get better from then.
It all happened so fast. If the PTO shaft was covered properly, I wouldn’t have gotten entangled in it. Rushing around, you wouldn’t have time to put a PTO cover on the PTO shaft. Now I couldn’t look at one without a cover on it. It happened in December and I was home in March. I couldn’t wait to get home. I was delighted to be alive. I always considered myself to be lucky instead of unlucky for it to happen.
Now I milk on my own. I might not be as fast as a fella with two hands, but I can do the very same thing.
One of my friends is working with a milking machine company and he came up with this implement, a strap around the waist and a 90-degree bend on a bar.
We put rings on all the clusters. This allowed me to milk the herd. I have an automatic jeep. All the controls on the tractor are on the right side. These modifications have allowed me to continue farming.
I hope sharing my story that it will save a limb or a life or maybe even cheer someone up. There’s always someone worse off than yourself, no matter how bad you are.
The Safe Family Farms programme is a joint initiative between the Irish Farmers Journal and
ESB Networks. We would like
to thank ESB Networks for their continued support.
Patrick O’Sullivan
Patrick O’Sullivan (77) is from Gortbuí, Beaufort, Co Kerry. He is married to Eileen with four children: Michael, Joe, Susie and Irene.
Patrick O'Sullivan from Gort Bui, Co. Kerry became trapped under his tractor for several hours when the handbrake wasn't engaged.
I’m not originally from a farming background. My father was a milesman on the railway.
When I was 16, I went to England where I worked on the motorways, driving heavy machinery. I came back to Ireland in 1969.
Every day, I get up at 8am, have a bit to eat and then I go out on the farm. I normally check the cows, making sure that they have grass and water, check the fencing, go around the farm with my quad, checking everything.
On the day of the accident, I went about my normal routine. When I returned to the yard, I decided to split a few blocks. I started my tractor and I came off to get something. I forgot to put on the handbrake and, before I knew where I was, the tractor was up on top of me. I knew that there was no one coming home before 7pm. My mind was made up. I knew that I’d have to stay there until then – I didn’t have a choice.
But then the neighbours came from the seaside. I started shouting and they came to my aid and they brought me to Tralee hospital. The doctors said that I moved stints in my heart trying to shove the tractor off myself.
My outlook on safety has changed as a result of the accident. I double-check everything.
My grandson, Jack Nagle, invented Tractor Safe Lock to try to prevent an accident of this nature from happening again. Tractor Safe Lock is a device that automatically engages the handbrake of a tractor when the operator exits the tractor. It is applied when the tractor is in neutral and there is no weight present on the weight sensor in the seat.
The handbrake is automatically applied. It is my hope that Tractor Safe Lock will eliminate accidents with handbrakes.
My one piece of advice is to be safe, and play safe. Be vigilant.
Angela Hogan
Angela Hogan is from Nenagh, Co Tipperary. She has been a civil servant for almost 20 years, working with Revenue.
Angela Hogan, from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, tragically lost her partner Brendan Kelly on 14 July 2011.
I have two children: Ronan and Grace. Ronan is 18 and Grace is nine. Ronan is passionate about farming and passionate about machinery. He’s hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps.
My partner, Brendan Kelly, has always been a farmer. He grew up on a farm and all his brothers are farming. His dad and his grandad before him were all farmers. He loved machinery and was very passionate about it. He was regularly called upon by everyone to have a look at their machines and see what was wrong with them. He was a big fan of Munster rugby and a big fan of Tipperary hurling.
Brendan would have considered the farm a safe place. He took his time doing things, so he was always very sure about the next move he was going to make.
On the day of the accident, 14 July 2011, it was a Thursday and the sun was shining. Brendan was out from early in the morning doing silage all day. I met him at lunchtime that day – that was the last time I spoke to him.
Brendan had just landed into the farmer’s field and the first bale was ready to be baled. But Brendan had to get into the machine to release a switch, because there was a buildup of dust on the switch. He climbed into the machine and unfortunately the machine came down on top of him and he was killed instantly.
At about 7.30pm that evening, my brother-in-law drove into the yard. He told me that Brendan had been killed.
Brendan and I had never discussed what the future of the farm would be if he ever went, so I had to rely on his family for guidance. There was no will made and we weren’t married. We just hadn’t got around to it. It created a lot of legal complications then because of that. It’s taken almost six years to get it sorted.
It’s very important to make a will. If you or your spouse knows nothing about farming and if they’re not from a farming background, it’s important to have a plan so that you know what the future of the farm is.
Nobody looks for an accident to happen and nobody thinks it will happen to them. It is vital that farm safety is a priority over everything else. It’s something that happens in a split second and suddenly your whole world is turned upside down.
Tommy Moynihan
Tommy Moynihan lives in Ballyseedy, Co Kerry, and has been farming all his life. He is married 25 years and has three children.
Tommy Moynihan lost his arm when it became entangled in a PTO.
Before the accident, I was always rushing around the place. Safety would have been the furthest thing from my mind. With regard to myself, I would have taken chances.
On the day of the accident, 20 December 2006, I carried out my normal jobs and fed everything. Then I was going to get out five loads of slurry. On my second load, I went around to the back of the slurry tank, put on the pipe and opened the valve at the back. Pressure was building up in the vacuum tank instead of sucking, so I ran up to the front to change the handle on the pump from pumping to sucking and it was then that it happened.
I became entangled in the PTO. My hand came off. It was 3ft away from me, but it looked perfect. The hydraulic hose then became entangled in the PTO. It was spinning around, hitting the drawbar each time. It was like a hammer hitting every second. At this point, I was stuck under the drawbar. To tell the truth, I thought that I was going to get a belt of that.
At the time, I had a man white-washing the walls. He heard me roaring and called my father. My father switched off the PTO shaft. It was like winning the lotto when that stopped going around; I knew that I was safe and that it could only get better from then.
It all happened so fast. If the PTO shaft was covered properly, I wouldn’t have gotten entangled in it. Rushing around, you wouldn’t have time to put a PTO cover on the PTO shaft. Now I couldn’t look at one without a cover on it. It happened in December and I was home in March. I couldn’t wait to get home. I was delighted to be alive. I always considered myself to be lucky instead of unlucky for it to happen.
Now I milk on my own. I might not be as fast as a fella with two hands, but I can do the very same thing.
One of my friends is working with a milking machine company and he came up with this implement, a strap around the waist and a 90-degree bend on a bar.
We put rings on all the clusters. This allowed me to milk the herd. I have an automatic jeep. All the controls on the tractor are on the right side. These modifications have allowed me to continue farming.
I hope sharing my story that it will save a limb or a life or maybe even cheer someone up. There’s always someone worse off than yourself, no matter how bad you are.
The Safe Family Farms programme is a joint initiative between the Irish Farmers Journal and
ESB Networks. We would like
to thank ESB Networks for their continued support.
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