Impaled Shropshire farmer tells show of 12-inch tractor spike ordeal

Witnesses and rescue staff told the BBC show Close Calls: Caught on Camera of their amazement when Graham Heatley, 52, returned to work on his farm in Lyneal, near Ellesmere, just a week after being speared through the back by his tractor.

See also: Impaled Shropshire farmer returns to work

Viewers of the BBC 1 show yesterday heard phone calls between Mr Heatley's neighbour Henry Rook, 23, and the emergency services, and saw pictures of the rescue in February.

Mr Rook called 999 after hearing Mr Heatley scream for help from the farm across the road.

He told the programme he believed the farmer was going to die in front of him when he found him pierced against a bale of hay by his tractor.

Firefighters and paramedics worked for 90 minutes to free Mr Heatley by removing the spike with the farmer still trapped on it.

Two air ambulances were involved, one flying to the farm, the other picked up blood supplies.

However, despite piercing him through the pelvis and back, the spike missed all his vital organs. Mr Rook said: "For it to go perfectly through him and avoid everything is phenomenal."

Mr Heatley believes he did not fully apply the handbrake of the tractor, which rolled forward as he stood in front of it cutting plastic sheeting off a bale of hay. He said:

"I could feel the metal going through me and there was nothing I could do. I could actually feel the prong go through my back and then into the hay so I was trapped. It was then I shouted and luckily the neighbours heard me."

The University Hospital of North Staffordshire where Mr Heatley was treated has returned the spike and he intends to fix it back on the tractor once he finds the right nut.