Shropshire farmer impaled on baler forks
[gallery] A farmer was impaled against a bale of hay when a tractor rolled down a slope and forks went through his back, causing serious injuries.
The man, who is in his 50s, was pulling plastic off bales of hay at a farm in Lyneal, near Ellesmere, when the accident happened.
Two large baling prongs went through the man's back and pinned him against the hay bales. Emergency services took almost two hours to free the man, who was flown to North Staffordshire Hospital by Midlands Air Ambulance for treatment.
His injuries were said to be "severe" after the accident, which happened at about 3pm yesterday.
Mark Weaver, incident commander for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the man was conscious while his team used specialist equipment to carefully remove the spikes.
He said it appeared that the handbrake had been left off, allowing the tractor to roll forward.
Mr Weaver said: "The man became impaled on the end of a silage fork on the end of a tractor.
"It was about a foot long and went through his back and out the other side.
"The man was conscious but obviously in a lot of pain.
"It was a difficult situation for us because he was in an awkward position and it was an unusual machine.
"In the end we unbolted the spike from the tractor and pulled the gentleman off.
"One of the firefighters there said he had never seen anything like it in 30 years of service."
Claire Brown, spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "Crews arrived to find a man who had become injured by a piece of machinery, which had impaled him through his lower back and had trapped him against a hay bale.
"The man was trapped for approximately two hours while ambulance crews worked closely with the fire service to release the man, who had been given advanced pain relief.
"Once freed safely, the man was stabilised and airlifted to the major trauma centre at University Hospital of North Staffordshire for further assessment and specialist treatment.
"The hospital had been pre-alerted and medics were on standby awaiting his arrival."
The farmer has not been named.
An ambulance, a rapid response vehicle, an air ambulance from Cosford carrying a critical care paramedic and a trauma doctor, plus another air ambulance from Staffordshire, were sent to the scene.
Fire crews from Ellesmere and Wellington attended, along with an ambulance, paramedic and the air ambulance.
