A Brush with Death

Ken, a friend of mine, fellow church member, and co-worker with our church’s teen van ministry gave me permission to share the story of his accident and near-death experience. He’s even made a Gospel tract sharing his testimony to the goodness of God. The accident occurred June 2021. His family was helping him haul loads of manure with the manure spreader. The spreader wasn’t running properly and he was unloading by hand. With a new load, Ken climbed into the spreader with his back towards the beater bars. He didn’t realize he’d not disengaged the beaters. Two of the three and a half inch teeth grabbed his pant leg, dug into his leg, and pulled it into the machinery. He yelled “STOP.” His grandson was driving the tractor and stopped immediately.

Ken pulled out his pocket knife cutting the pants to relieve the pressure. Ken’s grandson fetched a crescent wrench to lessen the machine’s pressure, while Ken’s son called 911. A neighbor heard the noise and came to help. Another neighbor was an EMT and soon joined them. Ken’s wife went to the road to direct the ambulance. When the ambulance arrived the EMT’s husband was also an EMT and was on the ambulance. Firemen soon arrived. People were able to reposition Ken’s foot and hold back the beater bars. Unable to remove his leg from the teeth without damaging his leg further, the firemen used a Sawzall to cut away the angle irons of the teeth holding his leg.

After 20 or 30 minutes the crew was able to extricate him. Ken says, “It was only by the grace of God that I was able to hold on that long without passing out.” The ambulance couldn’t climb the steep hill and he had to be carried to the top of the hayfield and loaded into a waiting helicopter. There were at least 20 people there helping him. He said, “I had no fear and had a peace about me.”

The helicopter delivered him to Presbyterian Hospital, Pittsburgh and after x-rays and a CAT scan he was finally wheeled into the operating room at 2:00 am. Anesthetized, his wounds were cleaned, packed with gauze, and several staples, leaving the wound open to drain.

He still walks with a slight limp, but he praises God and is thankful for all his neighbors and those who responded to his accident. He could have lost more blood, lost his leg, been crippled or died, but God protected him. He claims Isaiah 41:13, “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” He’d been reading the Gospel tract, “Is this your Last Day?” His message to you, “Do you know your destiny after death?”