PENDER, Neb. (Associated Press) — A northeastern Nebraska farmer is recovering after cutting off his own leg with a pocket knife to save himself from a piece of farm equipment he had become caught in.
63-year-old Kurt Kaser, of Pender, was unloading corn last month when he got out of his truck and accidentally stepped on the grain hopper opening. An auger in the hopper caught Kaser’s leg, pulling it in and mangling it.
Kaser said he couldn’t pull his leg out and didn’t have his cellphone. There was no one around to help.
So, he took his pocket knife out and sawed off his leg below the knee.
After he was freed, he crawled 150 feet to the nearest phone and was flown to a hospital. Kaser says he never lost consciousness.
On Friday, Kaser was released from a rehabilitation center. He will have to wait for the amputated leg to fully heal before getting a prosthetic leg.
I live out in the country, and just about every farmer I know carries a pocket knife in case something similar happens to them. Farm equipment doesn't have a lot of safety features.
Farm equipment doesn't have a lot of safety features.
Having to cut your own leg off is a nightmare scenario for sure.
An actual pocket knife is of little value to me on my farm. I use razor knives, mostly to open round bale wrappers.
As for safety features, I do keep a shotgun loaded with slugs for my yearling bull in case he decides to go through the fence. My neighbors are fairly close by and they have kids.
May I ask, Misterwhite, what your local farmer friends are growing and how they are progressing through this rainy start to the season?
