A Devon farmer narrowly escaped death after his leg was dragged into the teeth of a harvesting machine, leaving the limb looking 'like it had been stuck in a blender'. Martin Parkhouse, 45, from near Cullompton, was harvesting maize when crops became tangled around his foot and pulled him into the machinery.
His colleague, Rupert, quickly cut the engine and used his belt as a tourniquet before using what3words to pinpoint their location for emergency services. An air ambulance arrived within 12 minutes. Martin underwent life-saving surgery and two blood transfusions, followed by seven further operations to reconstruct his leg 'like a jigsaw puzzle'.
The father-of-five, who has worked as a contracted vegetable farmer for 14 years, was harvesting a field of maize on 8 October 2023 when the incident occurred. He had cleared a blockage in the KRONE Self-Propelled Forage Harvester and moved 2.5 metres away, but crops had become tangled around his foot unnoticed. When the machine was restarted, he was dragged into its teeth.
Martin spent four and a half months in hospital and was discharged in late January 2024, but returned with an infection until mid-March. Despite extensive reconstruction, he now faces amputation of his right leg at the knee due to ongoing pain. He said: 'They did an amazing job getting me this far but the leg isn't working right to carry on a safe and healthy lifestyle.'
Martin credits his colleague Rupert, Devon Air Ambulance, and what3words for saving his life. He also suffers from PTSD, with nightmares and flashbacks. Recalling the incident for Farm Safety Week, he warned: 'It was seconds, but with the size and power of any farming machine, it only takes seconds.'
