Ōtorohanga dairy farmer Michael Woodward was trying to get off farm for a party two summers ago, when a quick job to shift some stock took a turn. A runaway bull and a rut on the hillside saw him flip a quad bike on top of himself. It was a real wake up call for Michael and the following months dealing with his injuries put a real dampener on the remaining summer months.
There is always something to do on the Woodward’s Ōtorohanga farm. They have a dairy operation, run young stock and bulls on their steeper country and farm around 200 angora goats for fiber.
Michael said his general routine is cows in the morning and goats in the afternoon. The two animals complement each other well, they have the facilities to look after both and it offers some diversity in farm income.
With four young kids life off the farm is busy too and January 2023 was no different. The Woodwards were preparing to head off farm for a few days to celebrate his Mum’s 70th birthday. Michael said trying to get organised to head off farm always added a bit of undue pressure but he was not feeling overly stressed.
He had spent the afternoon doing some spraying and then had eight bulls to shift. Michael was on the quad bike following them when a bull headed off in its own direction. Michael thought he could quickly cut the bull off so headed up a hillier face to meet it. He hit a rut and the bike came up quickly and rolled back over him, crushing his lower legs. He sat up and watched his bike rolling down the hill thanking his lucky stars that his legs had borne the brunt of the rollover, not his spine or skull. It was a sombre phone call back home to his wife to let her know what had happened.
Perhaps feeling a bit too proud, Michael decided he did not need to go to the doctors despite suspecting quite a bit of nerve damage in his lower shins. After about two weeks of hobbling around the bruising had still not gone down and he ended up with an infection. Penance for not going to see the doctor when the accident first happened.
He still lives with numbness in his right leg and has some ongoing lower back issues which he has no doubt is a result of the initial fall of the quadbike. The accident also put pressure on other members of the team who had to lead on more physical jobs while Michael tried to rest up and heal.
Reflecting on the accident, Michael talks about taking 5 minutes to save 10. The investment in a little more planning ultimately paying a dividend in time saved or efficiencies gained.
The accident has changed his approach to both managing staff and having his kids involved on farm as well. He now knows just how quickly and innocently things can go wrong.
“It is one thing to do the job and quite another to truly understand your limits or the limits of the machine you are using” commented Michael.
He has started using the dogs a bit more than the bike on his hillier country, or taking a two wheeler.
“Prior to the rollover, we did not have crush protection in place on the bike but we do now. That summer's day was a close call, and I know it could have been much worse. To think it might have been one of my kids or staff was a motivator for getting the crush protection sorted”.
Finally, he said.
“You put these rules in place for your kids and staff but you have to step back and make sure that you are following them yourself. The ‘why’ is pretty clear to me, but I have to ask myself why I would put myself in a position I would not dare put anyone else in”.
As for his Mum’s 70th birthday – he did get there but it was slow going and the concoction of painkillers he was on limited his ability to partake in the revelry. A message to anyone hoping to enjoy summer activities to make sure they get there safely.
