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VIDEO: Farm accident leaves drystock farmer in an induced coma

Elizabeth Ormiston, a drystock farmer on the Meath/Cavan border, shares her farm accident survivor story as part of Farm Safety Week 2020.  

Everything changed for the Cavan native on Sunday morning, July 5th, 2009 when she was preparing a heifer for Bailieborough Show.

“The heifer was washed, and she was being led up on the trailer and the side passenger door of the trailer was opened.” she recalled.

“What we believe, the little dog passed by, she kicked the gate of the trailer as I was putting it up and hit me here.”

“I was thrown back with the force of the bang on cement and ended up in an induced coma for a week.”

“I sustained a severe brain injury and I had a brain haemorrhage. The morning of it, I remember blood being everywhere and Peter was coming home from first mass and Joe shouted, ran up the yard shouting ‘Peter come quick, your mother is hurt’.”

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“They said then I’d have to go to the hospital, but I wouldn’t get into my car because there was blood everywhere and I wasn’t going to dirty my car.”

After a while, Elizabeth became very quiet and stopped talking. When they arrived at the hospital, she collapsed.

Advice

She advises farmers to stop and concentrate on the job at hand. “When you lose concentration and you’re running behind time, that’s actually when accidents do happen.”

“Farming is my way of life and it’s a profession of dedication, commitment and optimism.”

Family

Elizabeth is married nearly forty years; her husband died in 2002 after a six-year illness. They have five children, two boys and three girls, and four grandchildren.

“They are my life and no matter what you’d have in the world, there’s nothing like family.”

“I would appeal to anybody to be very careful and concentrate on their jobs at hand and pay attention to detail.”

“Always remember to come home to that family. We pick up the papers and we read of all the statistics and all the farm accidents and I was nearly was one of those and thank God I wasn’t.” she concluded.

Image and video source: IFA Youtube

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