Embrace Farm was founded by Brian and Norma Rohan, to provide a bereavement support group for farm families who, like them, have lost a loved one or, indeed, suffered serious injury in a farming accident.

Brian’s dad Liam could be described as an exceptional farmer, well known to all in the industry. Liam was also renowned for his attention to detail on the farm, and to safety in particular.

In 2012, Liam was working on a silage rake with his son John. He bumped his head badly. Like most farmers, he dusted himself off, cleaned the graze on his head and walked back to the house. Brian said that about 20 minutes after the fall it was clear that Liam had suffered a massive internal injury and a severe bleed on the brain. He felt unwell, was disorientated and went to bed, commented Brian.

An ambulance was called and Liam slipped into a coma that he never awoke from. He was rushed by ambulance to Tullamore hospital. The very first question asked was had the family health insurance, followed by “would you like Liam to be anointed by the priest?” says Brian.

The bad news was delivered to the family by hospital staff. The cracked skull and massive internal bleed in the brain caused irreparable damage to Liam. Brian recalls his last conversation with his dad at 10.45am that day, about coloured cable ties to mark the hydraulic hoses on the diet feeder.

The start of Embrace Farm

Brian arrived up from the farmyard and asked his wife Norma to look up suicide support groups on the web. “Not sure where all this was going, I did as I was asked, and a selection of support groups was listed by the search engine,” said Norma.

“Brian then asked me to look up support groups for people involved in farm accidents. The penny dropped – there was no support for anyone involved in or affected by farm accidents. Brian realised that there was nothing out there to help people like him who were directly affected by an accident on the farm.”

Norma took on the challenge with Brian to set up a remembrance service to allow all people come together to share their loss and comfort each other. Brian said that they had nothing to pay for it with, and approached a selection of agricultural companies to support them. The response was fantastic, added Brian, and a lot of the support came from people and companies that did not want any credit or publicity. “They were just happy to support us on the new initiative,” commented Norma.

On 29 June 2013, the first remembrance service was held and a year after that Embrace Farm was formed. Both Brian and Norma feel that the establishment of Embrace Farm and helping others benefited them hugely in grieving the loss of Liam. Brain and Norma have one motto they live by now – “come home safe to the family”.

Have an up-to-date will

How to plan for loved ones after an accident is something that no one likes to think about. Brian and Norma field numerous calls from people who are in trouble with this issue. It is vital to have the transfer of ownership as smooth as possible during difficult times, said Brian.

In many scenarios, there has been a will made years back and has never been updated to account for new family members, or to include the BPS payment that is vital on many farms. Making a will is not expensive and costs somewhere around €100 to €150, according to Brian.

It is always advisable to get legal advice before making decisions on issues regarding the future of the family. The unfortunate part of any accident is that it is sudden, and the farm must go on the cows have to be milked, the cattle fed. Brian added costly legal bills and family disputes are the last thing a grieving widow needs to deal with at this time.

Security on loans

The nature of nearly all young family farms is to expand and develop the holding for the future generations. Brian says with development comes debt in the form of bank loans. If a partner is killed, the earning potential is greatly reduced.

“The diminished income capacity makes it very hard to keep a family and service loans. For protection of family income, all substantial loans should have life assurance policies with them,” according to Brian.

Joint names

A bank account in joint names is also a good idea, according to Brian. A widow who is unable to deal with the bank for a period of time adds tremendous pressure financially and emotionally. This is also the case for issues regarding insurance and simple domestic bills.

Communication

Good family communication and proper succession planning can eliminate a lot of stress. It is a key factor. Nobody ever likes to think that anything is going to happen to them. Yet in farming, numerous accidents cause death and serious injury.

Inquests

After all fatal accidents and sudden deaths, an inquest into the cause of death is carried out by the coroner. Brian says this was a very trying and difficult time for him and the family.

It dragged up all of the old feelings that surrounded the accident, according to Brian. He now advises people to contact the coroner service on www.coroners.ie to get information on the inquest procedure.

The future for Embrace

Brian and Norma are essentially working for free, like all of the board members and voluntary staff. Both know that Embrace Farm cannot continue like this, and they plan to generate enough income to put a full-time staff member in place to manage the charity, pending approval.

Norma added: “Registering Embrace Farm as a charity has been one of the most time-consuming and difficult administration jobs I have ever done.”

At the moment, they are trading as a limited company with 10 people on the board. All bank accounts are full disclosure, according to Brian, if anyone wants to see them.

Future events

The rest of 2016 and early 2017 looks very busy for Embrace Farm. On 25 November at 8pm in the Corralea Court Hotel Tuam, Embrace will hold the first of its regional meetings, with other nights in Limerick, Cork, and Westmeath planned. The theme is based on dealing with farm accidents.

In 2017, Embrace plans to hold “A day for Survivors” conference in April, dealing with a broad range of topics related to farming after an accident.

“There are over 2,000 farmers working with some level of disability after an accident on the farm. The conference is aimed at everybody who has been affected directly or indirectly by a farming accident,” Brian said.

Embrace Farm can be contacted on 085-770 9966 or by email embrace.farm@gmail.com Brain and Norma want to carry on helping people.

They found that sharing and talking about their own tragedy is one way of coping with the loss. Their influence has seen Teagasc develop the Tragic Event Service for Family Farms and the Department of Agriculture now includes Embrace Farm on their customer service list for families and friends affected by farming accidents.