Ouch!

[Show Dad]

This past Saturday we had just pulled into the show grounds and was unloading the heifers when the one I was leading got spooked. She jumped and planted a hoof right smack on top of my foot. Amazingly I did not blurt out any curse words as the pain was registering in my brain. Everyone asked if the heifer was OK, but my pain went unnoticed. :'(

There was to much work to do so I did not stop to check the damage. Just hobbled around helping the kids. (OK, I admit to take most of a bottle of Ibuprofen).

I went to the doctor today and found out, after a few tests, that I have broken my foot so bad I might need surgery to help it heal correctly. I have some pooling of blood in 2 toes that is not being reabsorbed so may have some blood vessel damage. The doc said he has seen a person loose a few toes in cases like this. Well not to take the first quacks diagnosis hook line and amputation saw, I have an appointment with a surgeon later today to determine what to do.

Now that I have shared my pain, what have been some of your accidents at shows (come on now, share the embarrassing and painful)?

 

[GLZ]

I was leading a steer after weigh in back to his stall.

There was an orange cone sitting on top of a drain (to warn you the drain was there).  The steer saw the cone and spun around to look at it head on.  I still had a good hold of him.

Within seconds he explodes away from the cone in the air kicks straight out like a freaking bucking bull, and hits me right in the shoulder knocking me to the ground.  My shoulder was out of socket.  I laid there for a minute while I watched the steer at a a run towards the stall.  I got back up popped my shoulder back in place.  Grabbed the lead rope walked him into the stall tied him up,

then for some odd reason I went into shock.  They sent over an ambulance and took me to the medical facility where I stayed for about a half hour.

 

[thepoorfarm]

When my daughter first started showing, we had a pasture calf, that was real quiet just to get her started, took her to a show, and of course my daughtergot a red ribbon, and was bottom of the class, as they were in the line up I noticed that she was red faced and was crying...I was kinda getting mad at her reaction,...as she came out I started lecturing her about good sport manship, yada yada "the speech" ...then she explained "she was on my toe, I couldn't get her off!" ....one broke toe later..... ;Dl

 

[farmboy]

we stack chutes on a cart and got my finger slammed and pinched in between two steel chutes, a bunch of blood squirted out the tip, it was horrible needless to say, now i dont have feeling in the end of that finger.


my dad also has 9 1/2 fingers, was working on tractor and finger was in between where the rear loader comes up and meets, he leaned over on the lever and it all came down and his finger flew right off....

 

[oakbar]

Most serious injury was my own fault.  The valve on my loader stuck one night when I was putting a round bale in a feeder.  The loader kept going up after I let go of the lever and dropped it right on top of me on the tractor. I was looking at a gate that was swinging toward the back tire and didn't notice that it was still gaining altitude.  Good thing I saw it out of the corner of my eye or I wouldn't be writing this right now.  As it was, I cracked the cartilage down one side of my sternum and separated three ribs.  Pretty well screwed up my shoulder and collar bone for goodl.    I survived only because I saw it coming a ducked as low as I could get.  The bale hit the steering wheel, my back, and the fender of the tractor all at once and drove my knee into my sternum.  It also broke the steering wheel right off the tractor.    I personally know three people who have been killed this way, so make sure you and your loved ones are really careful when moving large bales around--it happens damn fast!!  They can also roll off stacks sometimes.  One of my long term trail riding buddies was killed this way just a few weeks ago.

I guess this may not be exactly how this thread started, but I thought it was a good time to remind everyone.

 

[JoeBnTN]

I can relate - several years ago when I was an advisor to the Block and Bridle Club, we hosted an annual prospect steer and heifer sale.  Paired up the kids with the calves and gave them a week to get them ready for the sale.  Typically we'd pair up an experienced showman with a rookie (sometimes the rookies had NO experience), but this year we had more calves than experienced teams, so we had to give some calves to the less experienced students.  To make a long story short, one of the really good steers ended up with two students who couldn't do anything with him - they just couldn't get along.  So on Wednesday night they ask me to help and I proceeded to break the calf over the next couple of days.  Friday afternoon I get him clipped and I'm leading him around the arena with no problems - in fact he's near perfect.  The young lady who had tried to break him earlier comes over and reaches out to touch him.  As soon as her hand touches him, he bolts forward going straight through me.  They told me later that his back feet came down on opposite sides of my head, just missing my face.  My girlfriend was a vet student so they took me to the clinic and x-rayed me on the small animal table.  Two broke ribs and a bruised lung.  After a night of no sleep and a lot of aspirin, I spent the next day fitting calves and running the sale.  When I got home that night I went to be and stayed for 2 days - I couldn't move or breathe very deep.  Just a good reminder that you ALWAYS have to pay attention to what you (and the people around you) are doing.

 

[Jill]

The show we were at yesterday we were set up not too far from the scales so that everyone that came up to weigh had to go right by us.  Tate came back screeming, one of the steers had I guess spooked and stepped on his foot.  We took him to the emergency room as I assumed that it was broken, we got lucky on this one.  The foot isn't broken, but it peeled the skin off between his big toe, and the 1st and 2nd toes, it is still swollen and blackish purple, but it could have been so much worse, hopefully it will give him a health fear of the cattle, he is so used to them he really doesn't even know when he is too close for danger.

 

[farmboy]

ive been stepped on so many times, i dont even acknowlege it anymore, just say, " get off" lol

 

[Show Dad]

Had an interesting visit at the surgeon. He placed leaches on the toes to help drain the blood, dead tissue and help restore some circulation. But it will wait to see if there is any bone healing problems. He thought the bones were aligned so as not to cause any problems but will have to keep off the foot for the next few days.

Oakbar - I agree farm safety should always be on our minds.

 

[SKF]

My daughter broke her foot a couple of years ago when a steer stepped on it. Of course it was the steer she hated so it did not help with how she felt about the steer. She was so happy the day he went to the market.

 

[Joe Boy]

So sorry!!!! 

 

[SWMO]

Leaches  I have to say yuck.  Still remember when I was about 12 and was wading and fishing with the family and got some leaches on my legs.  I am normally not squeemish but YUCK  YUCK  YUCK.  Glad it was you and not me.  Still don't like the things to this day.  keep us posted on how they worked.

 

[cattlejunky]

SD  sorry to hear about your foot!  Hope they get you on the mend.

My husband and a steer tried to see who could make it outof the barn first a couple years ago.  They both hit a gate and bent it and the steer stepped on his ankle.  It turned all kinds of pretty colors.  That ankle still swells on him.

When I was showing my Dad was clipping a calf that kept kicking him. He had finally had enough and punched the calf, unfortunately he hit the calf right on the bone above its eye and he broke his hand.  While at the emergency room a guy my dad knew from high school came in with a broken hand.  He had hit his horse.
So do not hit calves and horses in the head with your hand!!!

The worst thing I have had is severe rope burn from a halter when I was a kid.  When I break now I always wear gloves.

 

[kanshow]

When I was a kid, I was washing calves on the washrack - barefoot.    You can guess what happened...  broken toes.  Now I just cringe when I see my kids wearing thongs out around the livestock. 

Another memorable event was when a ewe jumped into my face and gave me the shiner of all shiners. 

 

[garett]

 Now I just cringe when I see my kids wearing thongs out around the livestock.   

haha Well I do the same thing. I havent ever been stepped on wearing them, but if/when this happens Im sure it will be terrible, Oh well it'll be my own fault I guess

 

[Jill]

Tate was in croc's and you can see the mark from where the hoof cut into the croc.

 

[kanshow]

Tate was in croc's and you can see the mark from where the hoof cut into the croc.

  Ouch... He's a lucky kid alright. 

 

[40yrold4her]

Several years ago my dad got his arm caught between the three point arm and the cab of the tractor cutting the muscle all the way to the bone. Three operations later and some skin graphs he has recovered fully, he lost some strength in that arm  the doctor says now he is as strong as a normal person. Two years ago at sneak a peak while I was fitting a steer for show I was called up to the announcers booth and told my Dad was being life flighted to the hospital that he had dropped a tree on himself while clear cutting a patch of trees. They had to open him up to fix some internal injury's and three days later he was showing off is arm injury to medical students. (You can see everything moving in his arm through the skin graph) Two weeks later he was caught driving to town to drink coffee with the other farmers. Thanks to the kind local folks back at the show for breaking down the cattle and getting everything home for me. Even the show organizers tore up the entry check which I never was able to thank them for. (NWMS AGR)  My dad even myself tend to do nothing at all or we go 100 miles an hour trying to get thing done it never hurts to take a big breath and think things out before hand.

 

[Show Dad]

Leaches  I have to say yuck.  Still remember when I was about 12 and was wading and fishing with the family and got some leaches on my legs.  I am normally not squeemish but YUCK  YUCK  YUCK.  Glad it was you and not me.  Still don't like the things to this day.  keep us posted on how they worked.

It felt sort of funny having them on me eating the dead skin and sucking out the pooled blood. But they are "medical" leaches (not lawyers) so they are the good kind (right). Go back tomorrow for another round of leach therapy. I did go and talk to the radiologist who read the films and said my toes had been dislocated but as the swelling went down they moved back into place. Which is good news. I still have some broken small bones in the foot but it looks like they might just heal on their own and be OK. That would be great. I did walk out and check cattle and didn't feel too much pain.

I do appreciate all the well wishes, so thank you.

 

[nosejob8807]

gosh, i guess i have to start wearing shoes after reading all those stories. i wear flip flops everywhere, out in the pasture, washrack, shows.. even been stepped on with flip flops on, guess i havent learned my lesson.. yet! haha