Impaled Shropshire farmer returns to work

Graham Heatley, 52, was pulling plastic off bales of hay at his farm in Lyneal, near Ellesmere,

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A baling fork went through Mr Healey's abdomen and he was pinned to a bale of hay on February 13. Incredibly he suffered no serious injuries and has been recovering at home since.

But now Mr Heatley has returned to work at his family-run farm The Grange.

He said: "I'm back at work and doing jobs around the farm again. Fortunately at the moment there are not too many heavy lifting jobs, but I have been doing things like feeding cattle, bedding cattle, and general jobs.

"There is no pain now at all surprisingly.

"I have been feeling like I should be out helping on the farm, and at times it was quite frustrating. I have been a farmer all my life and it has been in the family for generations, so I'm not used to it."

Mr Heatley, who admits to being lucky, believes he did not apply the tractor's handbrake properly allowing it to roll and pin him to the bales of hay. Within minutes he was at the centre of a major rescue operation involving the air ambulance, land paramedics, police and the fire brigade.

It took more than an hour to free the farmer and eventually firefighters dismantled the prong and he was airlifted to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire with it still in his body.

"I have more or less healed over now which is pretty incredible," he said.