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Farm family emphasises safety education
A Wisconsin family knows first-hand how important farm safety is.
Wisconsin’s FFA typically works to educate people about the dangers on the farm like grain entrapments, power takeoff shafts, and rollover risks, but State Vice President Sam Mell from Waunakee is passionate about farm safety for another reason. “Having a sister who was in a farm accident, falling off of a bunker silo was something that really changed our lives. That happened about three years ago, and since then she’s been paralyzed from about the waist down, so just trying to make people informed about these things, whether it’s something they are doing every single day and you don’t think about it twice or it’s something that you’re doing for the first time, just make sure that you’re careful.”
Mell says what happened to his sister Sydney could happen to anyone. “I feel like my family was put into this place almost to teach others about this because it’s something that doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it really changes things.”
Mell says he and his sister frequently share her story of the paralyzing fall, and of her success afterwards. “She used her Action Track wheelchair, which is a wheelchair with tracks on it and showed a dairy heifer at one of our local fairs, and actually ended up winning showmanship.” Sydney also graduated from the University of Wisconsin on schedule.
Sam Mell spoke to Brownfield during Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.
AUDIO: Sam Mell describes his family’s involvement in farm safety education with Brownfield’s Larry Lee.