Farm Safe Farm Well: The dangers of working at heights
In the fourth part of Agriland Media's series, Farm Safe, Farm Well, we focus on the dangers posed by working at heights on the farm.In 2021, Eddie Downey was working in a shed on his farm close to Slane in Co. Meath when he fell 12ft onto the concrete below.
The former president of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) shattered his pelvis, badly damaged his bladder and broke a bone in his wrist.
Downey was rushed by ambulance to hospital where he underwent several operations over a five-week period, before returning home in a wheelchair.
After two weeks, he transitioned to crutches and then began physiotherapy sessions.
"I was 61 years of age, very fit at the time. You think at that stage you're invincible, it can't happen to you, but the reality here is that it did happen to me."The Farm Safe Farm Well series, produced by Agriland Media in conjunction with AXA Insurance, is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
