Kyle Cashwell grew up on a farm. He knows the ins and outs of running a tractor and other farming equipment, but a hasty decision in October 2014 forever changed his life.

Cashwell spoke to students and faculty of Sampson Community College Wednesday night, sharing both the harrowing events of a near-fatal farming accident, and the lessons he has learned and precautions he takes as a result of that day.

Invited to speak to students in an Animal Science class, Cashwell told of how the events unfolded on Oct. 20, 2014. Just like any other day, when he got home from a shift as a paramedic, he helped his wife get the kids off to school. With a list a mile long of things he had to get done, Cashwell says he headed out to the farm and started picking corn.

“I had picked a trailer full of corn,” Cashwell shared. “I was about half way through a second trailer when I got stuck.”

Unhitching from the trailer, Cashwell said he took the tractor and a corn picker to the end of the row, and began cleaning debris off the auger. A morning glory had wrapped itself around part of the equipment, and when Cashell pulled, it didn’t come loose.

“I wrapped my hand around it, and pulled, but it pulled me,” he explained.

At that moment, Cashwell said he realized he made a huge mistake and didn’t turn off the tractor or equipment, because he fell into the auger and it caught his right hand.

“I did everything I could to get my hand out,” he continued.

In a panic, Cashwell says he began thinking of ways he could get his hand out of the machine, even putting his foot on the equipment to help brace himself. The teeth in the auger grabbed Cashwell’s leg, and like they pull the corn stalks into the machine, the teeth began pulling Cashwell’s right leg into the machine.

“My right arm was crushed, and I didn’t know anything else to do. So, I fell to the ground.”

Cashwell says as he laid there on the ground, covered in blood, a lot of things were going through his head. He says he started to question God about ways he could get out of the situation, but also thanked him for everything he had given to him.

Only able to use one arm, Cashwell says he took his belt off and wrapped it around his right arm to control the bleeding. Somehow during the time he took his belt off, he pulled his cell phone out of the case and it was laying on his chest.

“I felt something vibrating, and it was my phone,” Cashwell said.

It was his father in law, who immediately hung up and called for help.

“My phone was covered in blood, but somehow I managed to get it open and call 911,” Cashwell shared.

A friend was the first to arrive, and when he did, Cashwell says he asked him to turn off the farming equipment. He then took his utility belt off and Cashwell wrapped it around his right leg to control the bleeding. And of all things, Cashwell asked his friend for his Diet Pepsi.

“I knew what had happened to me and I knew that at any moment, I could go unresponsive,” Cashwell said.

Transported to Garland by ambulance, a helicopter from Duke arrived to transport him to the hospital. As a paramedic, Cashwell said he had worked with all the rescue personnel on scene that day, and even knew the men working in the helicopter.

“I never thought I would make it out of that field, and here I was about to go up in a helicopter,” Cashwell said.

Throughout the entire experience, Cashwell says he remained alert. It wasn’t until up in the helicopter, when he was given something to help bring his heart rate down, that Cashwell doesn’t remember anything. He woke up a few days later, after having multiple surgeries, to find out that he didn’t have a right arm or a right leg.

“At that point, I just wondered, ‘what good is a one-legged, one-armed man,’” Cashwell said.

Depression set in and Cashwell says he continued to battle it for the entire 70 days he was in Duke. During that time, he would spend Thanksgiving, Christmas and even his 34th birthday at the hospital.

“Before the accident, I was a strong man that could do anything I wanted,” Cashwell explained. “Now, I couldn’t even pick my head up off the bed.”

On Jan. 1, 2015, Cashwell entered a rehabilitation facility in Fayetteville, where he stayed for 14 days.

Now, more than two years after the accident, Cashwell says he spends his time doing whatever he wants, from farming and running the sawmill to driving and going to different activities for his children.

Cashwell has traveled across North Carolina and other states to speak to groups about his experience and farm safety. Wednesday night, he was able to share not only his story with the students, but information about how to be safe when working on the farm.

Kyle Cashwell talks with Chet Bass and Katie Brown following his presentation to faculty and students at Sampson Community College Wednesday night.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Kyle1.jpgKyle Cashwell talks with Chet Bass and Katie Brown following his presentation to faculty and students at Sampson Community College Wednesday night.

Kyle Cashwell talks with Sampson Community College students about farm safety, sharing his story of a near-fatal farming accident.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Kyle2.jpgKyle Cashwell talks with Sampson Community College students about farm safety, sharing his story of a near-fatal farming accident.
Farming accident leads to new perspective on life

By Kristy D. Carter

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Reach Kristy D. Carter at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd. Like us on Facebook.