By Joanie Bergh
That her 83-year-old husband is alive today after a 1 600 kg tractor overturned on him and he was pinned for hours can only be described as a “miracle”.
This is what Gerda Whitehorn said days after her husband, Brian, was discharged from the hospital. All he had left from the freak accident was a broken collarbone and a bruised arm.
Whitehorn, who farms on the farm Paardeplaats, about 12 km outside Lydenburg in Mpumalanga, was mowing grass with his tractor on an embankment about 1m high on Wednesday, 14 May, at around 12:00. The tractor overturned and landed on top of him.
Initially, she expected the worst when she got to him and saw the diesel spilled all over him and blood coming out of his ears. She later saw the blood came from minor scratches he had sustained on his head.
Their neighbours Jakkie Mellet from Potato Seed Production, Willie Botha from Hops Hollow and Liezl du Plessis from Whiskey Creek from Anglo American, along with their workers, worked for two hours to cut the tractor into parts and lift the wreckage with the help of hydraulic winches to remove it.
“He was fully conscious and talking the whole time. He was a little impatient, because he couldn’t see what was going on, but he remained calm and didn’t panic for a moment.”
After two hours, the paramedics, who were already on the scene, took him to the Mediclinic in Mbombela, where he was discharged after five days.
He said although he is frustrated because his right arm also suffered bruises and he is doing things a little slower now, he is doing very well.
“I believe he shouldn’t have driven the tractor at that location, but it was an absolute freak accident. He loves that tractor so much and is already making plans to restore it.”
“I won’t tell him this now, but I don’t think he should get on that tractor again,” she said with a laugh.
