Darren Hopcraft

It had been a long frustrating day on the farm at Bolton by Bowland and once again the forage harvester agricultural engineer Darren Hopcraft was operating had another blockage. This time it would have horrific consequences.

"I checked my arm to see if I was weeping blood, there was no blood and the nerve endings were still attached. I kept my arm covered to ensure no diesel got into it to keep it clean. I remember getting my phone from the cab and calling my girlfriend and matter of factly telling her I was going to hospital, and I also called my mother."

 

"Unfortunately there had been problems all day with the harvester blocking. It was about 7pm and frustration was setting in. I jumped into the back of the machine and saw some waste material that needed clearing. I did everything as I had before - I switched off the machine, went to the inspection chamber, lifted the door, removed the inspection plate and cleared the blockage. I returned to the cab, turned the blower on and blew out the soft earth then switched off the blower and machine. I spent the next few minutes talking with the farmer to allow the blower mechanism to run down and stop. Once I thought it had stopped I returned to the inspection chamber" Darren recalls.

However, there was a tractor running alongside the harvester and this might account for Darren having been unable to hear any sound coming from the blower mechanism. "I put my hand into the area of serrated blades at the base of the blower but they hadn’t completely stopped, they grabbed hold of my fingers, next minute part of my arm below the elbow. I could’ve lost my arm all the way up to the shoulder. It was just torn right off. It all happened so quickly and it’s all a little hazy – but I remember seeing my hand go and then part of my arm and knowing that if I didn’t act quickly it would be up to my shoulder. I remember thinking I’m still alive, I have to get out of here. I jumped out of the chamber and the farmer who was now down the field heard me screaming. I don’t recall screaming – but I’ll never forget the look of horror on his face."

"I checked my arm to see if I was weeping blood, there was no blood and the nerve endings were still attached. I kept my arm covered to ensure no diesel got into it to keep it clean. I remember getting my phone from the cab and calling my girlfriend and matter of factly telling her I was going to hospital, and I also called my mother."

Someone had phoned for an ambulance. However, when the first ambulance arrived they had no stretcher so an air ambulance was called. This also arrived with no stretcher. It was 40 minutes before the air ambulance was able to take off and head for the hospital – and then only because Darren, still waiting for a stretcher to arrive, took matters into his own hands and climbed onto the helicopter. At this point he lost consciousness. "I remember taking off and then landing, but nothing in between," he recalls.

"My first instinct was to be strong for my family, who were devastated for me. My father had flown to Tenerife that morning and he wanted to fly straight back home, but I told him there was nothing he could do, I was OK, and to enjoy his holiday. I didn’t want to show any emotions in front of anyone, I had to maintain a hardness and edge to keep myself going."

"I spent the next week in hospital. I underwent two operations one to clean the arm and the second for skin grafting. Because I’d torn all sorts of ligaments in my arm I was told it would be a good 12 months before I’d be ready to return to work."

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