Emily Lees: How farmers rallied to help us after accident

It was a Wednesday, about 9.30am. There was a loud clatter – typical for the farmyard, but enough to question what had happened…

And there was Ed, my fiancé, lying in the mud. He was dazed, confused and only just awake, having been kicked in the head by a cow.

The air ambulance arrived, and a team on the ground quickly secured his neck and spine. He could talk, but made no sense. He had no idea what had happened.

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Ed had chipped his skull. The concussion wiped his memory for a couple of weeks, and he was in hospital for four days. It was awful, and something I hope never to relive again.

But in the background, the farm had to continue.

This was my first year of calving, only eight months into the job, and my fiancé was out of the game for the foreseeable.

And yet, the farming community did what they do best: they rallied together to help.

The support from our staff and neighbours was amazing. Not just cards, flowers and kind words, but genuine care and help on the farm.

A difficult cow with mastitis led to our local dairy farmer saving the day.

And the staff demanded to help at weekends, going above and beyond to make things easy for our whole family. It was incredible.

Even now, when we bump into someone who farms down the road, they always ask, with sincere concern, “How is Ed?”.

The answer is, Ed is doing fine. We got married while he was wearing a neck brace and, within eight weeks, he was back to work.

There is no industry quite like ours, which can come together so readily to help others.

And the accident has taught me something extremely important: remember to ask for help. Be it for something big or small, our community and culture is founded on strong, goodwill morals.

So please, don’t suffer alone, don’t sacrifice or martyr yourself. Call a friend, call a neighbour, call the Farming Community Network.

Everyone in farming has your back. We’ve got you.