Graeme's Story

As the two tonne cattle feeder crashed down towards him, Graeme MacLeod leapt to get clear. His quick reactions avoided more than a severe blow to his head but the weighty feeder struck his chest and legs, pinning him to the concrete floor in the empty cattle court.

Lying in the wet slurry that the farmer was clearing after sending the cattle out to pasture, Graeme managed to wriggle his chest free but his legs were trapped.

"I didn't know what injuries I had suffered," he said. "Adrenaline kicks in initially and you think everything is fine - but I was held fast, alone, cold and wet and the pain was starting to set-in down my whole body."

Graeme, who farms in the Scottish Borders, called his partner to come from her work and shift the offending trough with the forklift.

"She managed to get the weight off me but I wasn't able to move," he said. "I was concerned I had broken my back which was a terrifying feeling."

The trough had fallen around nine feet from the prongs of a forklift truck which Graeme had used to raise the feeder so that he could clean it from underneath.

"I had done it many times before but it just takes one time for things to go wrong and you're in a whole world of trouble," he said.

"When the ambulance arrived they got me cleaned up a bit and into the vehicle while calling on support from Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance.

"I felt a huge sense of relief when I heard the helicopter coming in to land nearby," recalled Graeme. "SCAA paramedics were at my side in seconds and reassuring me. They were comforting, professional and decisive. They're exactly who you want to see when you're frightened and in pain."

Graeme was airlifted smoothly, comfortably and swiftly to the major trauma unit at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, minimising any threat to his injuries.

"Miraculously, I escaped with severe bruising and muscle damage to my legs and chest," explained a relieved Graeme, "and left hospital 10 hours later."

"I watched the accident on the farm CCTV and saw how quickly the incident happened. It's the sort of thing that happens to other people, never you - or so I thought.

If I had broken my neck or back, a one-hour-plus jarring road journey by ambulance to hospital would have been terrible. SCAA flew me in minutes without any more trauma.

It's vital for rural workers that SCAA is available and Scotland is hugely fortunate to have such a charity as part of our emergency response network. I can't thank them enough for all they did for me."