A farmer who needed five hours of surgery to save his thumb after it was hit by a 200kg hammer of a fencing post driver is urging others to follow important safety guidance.
Alwyn Watkins, who farms beef and sheep at his 210 hectare upland farm in Powys, Wales, was replacing fencing on a field boundary on a hillside, using a post driver, when the incident happened.
He admits he was rushing to get the job done and hadn’t carefully considered the implications when a stake snapped and he reached for it without moving the arm and weight of the driver out of the way.
Alwyn recalled: “I was wearing a fencing pouch and as I went to grab the stake the pouch was flung up by the wind and it hit the lever that sends the weight downwards.
“My thumb was on the stake and the weight came down straight on top of it."
The bone in his thumb broke in five places and the skin covering it was split open, exposing the bone. Surgeons worked for five hours over two operations to save it.
“They had to pull the bone out and clean it because they were afraid of sheep muck being on the bone and causing infection," said Alwyn, who spent three days in hospital.
He said he fully expected to not regain use of his thumb, but fortunately he has almost made a full recovery.
“When I took the dressing off, I couldn’t believe my eyes, my thumb had healed really well," he said, "It is never going to be right but it is somewhere near."
The accident has left him with poor circulation in that area of his hand. “First thing in the morning that thumb feels really cold," Alwyn explained.
“I’ve got two quad bikes and one has a thumb warmer so I try to use that one, it seems to help quite a lot."
Although the accident was serious, Alwyn said he considered himself lucky that he didn’t damage his entire hand or arm.
The accident not only had an impact on his physical wellbeing but on his business too.
Himself and his family usually rear 20,000 pheasants for Bettws Hall Sporting Club, but with Alwyn out of action, that job had to be cancelled.
“It was a total nightmare to be honest," he admitted. Alwyn, who is 28, reflected on what happened and has some important rules he now lives by.
“I was in a total rush because I had so much work in front of me but from this experience I have learned to slow down when I am fencing, it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been rushing."
His message to other farmers is similar: "Take your time when you are using a post driver," he said.
"When something doesn’t go to plan push the weight out of the way. It’s about using common sense I suppose, I didn’t and look what happened."
Alwyn has been working with Farming Connect and the Wales Farm Safety Partnership to raise awareness of the dangers of using post drivers.
This includes featuring in a video with Brian Rees, a farmer who is also a trainer and mentor in health and safety.
Brian says these machines can be extremely dangerous: “As stated by the manufacturers, they can kill," he warned.
"In fact someone was killed this year as a result of a head injury sustained when they were using one - so it is really important that people use post drivers safely, are vigilant and read the safety handbook."
