Planting Hope

Planting Hope

National program helps farmers with disabilities keep their independence

By Kelsey Litchfield and Kelly Gagnon

Michelle Halpin was awakened in the night by the call that no wife wants to answer. Her husband had been in an accident, and it wasn’t looking good. To top it off, they weren't even at home: they were at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, several hours from their Illinois home.

Her husband, Mike, and a friend were up late with the cows the night before the show and needed additional bales of hay stored in the livestock trailer. While Mike was unloading bales, his hand got caught on the twine and it pulled him from the trailer headfirst into the ground.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where the surgeon discovered that Mike had dislocated his C5 and C6 vertebrae and suffered a spinal cord injury. As a result, he had no feeling or mobility from the middle of his chest down.

“No one knew what we should expect. And the uncertainty of the situation was scary,” Mike says.

THE ROUTE TO RECOVERY

Due to challenges faced after surgery to realign the cervical vertebrae, Mike spent 30 days in the ICU at UW Health in Madison. During this time, he was able to indicate regained sensation in his legs, deeming his spinal cord injury ‘incomplete’ and opening the door for hope.

“Based on the initial evaluation of the injury, even his main surgeon was shocked from these developments,” Michelle says. However, physical recovery was slow, and Mike and Michelle’s young family suddenly faced an unfamiliar set of daunting challenges. Mike was moved to the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab (SRAL) in Chicago to work with experts to get stronger and rebound from his injury. Not long after his stay, his sensation improved, and he began to move his toes, just enough to make the future seem bright.

By early March, five months after his injury, Mike was bending his knees. This comeback in mobility influenced his team at SRAL to start gait training to reteach Mike's muscles how to walk and become stronger. Since returning home in May 2017, Mike continues to attend physical therapy sessions, which have allowed him to advance to walking with braces and a walker.

“It’s been miraculous,” Michelle says. “He can do a lot more than anyone ever expected. And he’s always pushing himself to do more.”

Michelle works from home, where she also helps take care of Mike. His mother drives him to therapy in Bloomington three times a week, and their sons Owen, 13, and Colt, 11, help with cattle chores, including running the tractor and grain carts. The Halpins have been overwhelmed by the support they’ve received from their friends, family, and community.

“I’ve really learned not to be shy,” Mike says. “If you ask people for help, they understand for the most part. For the first month or two, that was the hardest for me.”

ADAPTING TO A NEW WAY OF FARM LIFE

It wasn’t long after his accident that Mike was itching to get home and back to the farm near Cullom, Illinois. Mike, alongside his dad, George Halpin, and uncle, William Halpin, farms about 4,000 acres of corn, soybeans, and hay and raises beef and dairy cattle.

Thanks to a family friend, Mike learned about AgrAbility Unlimited of Illinois. AgrAbility partnered with the Illinois Assistive Technology Program to make the home adaptations needed for him to return home.

After AgrAbility started at Purdue University in 1989, the program came to the University of Illinois a year later. Robert Aherin, program director for Illinois and professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, brought AgrAbility to Illinois, one of 10 initial states that qualified through a competitive USDA grant to receive national funding support for its program.

The USDA funding provides support for the basic services AgrAbility provides, but the funds cannot be used to help buy assistive technology for farmers. If farmers don’t qualify for financial assistance from the Illinois Department of Disability Services, the program relies on private contributions.

With a background in agriculture safety, Aherin saw the potential to help farmers make adaptations on their farms.

“I saw a need to help these farmers with disabilities—some caused by accidents, but mostly the result of disease and age-related issues—so we developed a program to help meet their needs and utilize technology available from the land-grant systems and private industry,” Aherin explains.

To get the process started, AgrAbility worked with Mike’s physical therapist to determine his capabilities and learn about their farm’s priorities.

“We also connect them with other resources that help farmers with disabilities—professional counseling and financial services—as well with peer counselors or people with similar injuries,” Aherin says.

Currently, Mike pitches in by processing grain tickets and keeping bookwork up to date; recently, he started driving again. This has been instrumental in getting people where they need to be during the busy times of the year, Michelle says.

“I do anything I can to help out,” Mike says. “I want to work.”

Mike can operate farm equipment with his hands, but he struggles with getting into or out of a truck or tractor. AgrAbility Illinois and Illinois Assistive Technology are exploring adaptive farm equipment options with him. He is looking forward to being more hands-on at the farm with their help.

The Halpins count their blessings for every little victory, and they attribute each one as another step toward Mike’s independence.

“Family members tell us that their whole attitude has changed, and they are now more positive than negative after we come in and help,” Aherin says. “Farming is a way of life—it’s something farmers enjoy doing and want to do. AgrAbility allows them to continue to work and be productive. This program provides a quality of life—people develop an enhanced sense of purpose and self-worth.”

Mike still uses his power wheelchair to navigate around home and the farm. His current goal is to walk unassisted by October 5, the two-year anniversary of his accident.

“Even if it is only 5 feet, to be able to get up and do it on my own is my goal right now,” he says. “I look forward to one day being back on the farm with my family full time and more hands-on with the day-to-day operations.”

500,000 Illinois farm family members and farm employees are at high risk for workrelated injuries.

To learn more about supporting AgrAbility, contact the ACES Office of Advancement at 217-333-9355 or acesadvancement@illinois.edu.

Source: AgrAbility

Fall 2018 | ACES@Illinois | 21