Barn boards and packing wire

WHITELAW, Wis. – Bruce Klemm got up one morning in October 2022 and sang a song to his wife, Virginia, as he had done every morning in the 42 years they had been married. Little did she know that in a few hours he would call her to say goodbye.

Klemm, 70, is a cash crop farmer who grows beans, corn and wheat at Cloverdale Farm between Manitowoc and Green Bay in Kossuth Township, Wisconsin. His father in 1967 bought the farm along Meier Road near Whitelaw. Bruce Klemm bought it in 1980 after deciding he liked milking cows. Klemm and his two sons, Ted and John Klemm, milked 125 Holsteins until 2013.

It almost all ended for Bruce Klemm on one fateful day a little over a year ago in one of those all-too-familiar farm accidents. He recently wrote to tell me about a machinery accident.

“I should not have survived,” he wrote. “I have had numerous close calls in my life, but this incident makes me wonder what God has in mind for me.

“Oct 20, 2022 was a very warm autumn day with plenty of sunshine. It had rained lightly the evening before – our soybeans were too wet to combine. I thought I would take advantage of the good weather and put a field tile 200 feet long in a small wet depression in the soybean field I had combined.

“We have owned a Vermeer 12000 excavator-backhoe for over 10 years and have improved our fields considerably during that time. Laying out the trench path was easy as it was practically line of sight. After crossing about 4 feet deep for 75 feet or so, I ran into a “vein” of underground stones that periodically stopped the trench chain. Each time I had to lift the trench out of the ditch, turn the machine and remove the stone with the backhoe Once the rock was removed I was able to turn the machine back over, reset, start the trench chain, engage the hydraulic drive and put the trench back in the trench.

“I worked digging through this ‘vein’ of rocks for about an hour and a half. At that point I realized I was running low on gas. My 10-year-old granddaughter, Lineah, had gotten out in her 4 rides with Bella, our black lab So I sent her back to the farm to tell her dad, our son John, that she needed more fuel.

“This had happened about six times and I had just removed a large rock that seemed to fragment quite easily. I turned the machine and lined it up to drop the trench into the trench. Each time I tried to switch from direct drive on the hydraulic drive the lever would go back into neutral. So I got off the machine to try to engage the lever from the side with a better lever. I gave it a good push and it engaged the drive hydraulic But to my horror, as soon as I took my hand off the lever, it went into neutral and engaged direct drive.

“The machine lurched forward and the tire I was standing on rolled over both of my feet, trapping me in that spot. The tire continued forward, pulling my back as it crawled up my legs, to over my knees, down my pelvis and over my abdomen. It was at this point that I thought this was the end and screamed ‘Jesus, I’m coming home’! The weight of the machine forced the air out from my lungs as it continued to crawl down my body. As it crawled over my chest, I felt and felt the crack, crack, crack of my ribs.

“Of course, all this only took a few seconds, but I was aware of the fact that it was going to happen right in my face. Then, suddenly, I remembered an experience from my youth.

“We had a neighbor where we lived in northern Illinois. He was 20 years old, about 10 years older than me. Charles – Chuck – Hill had joined the Marines and his unit was sent to Vietnam. He was killed there in skirmish in 1967. Our family attended the funeral in his hometown south of Fond du Lac. The casket was sealed; Chuck’s body could not be seen because of his injuries.

“When I realized the trench was going to go over my face, I knew it would be ‘not visible’. So I turned my head to the right and it went over the left side of my head. A tire point left a mark from the tread along my jaw to my left ear. Another point crossed my left temple causing tissue damage that caused my eye to close. My glasses broke causing several deep lacerations on my brow. And then it was over.

“The machine continued on a quarter-mile odyssey, turning slowly to the left and almost touching my son’s pickup truck as it came running down the lane. The trencher came out of the corn right in front of him.

“I found myself unable to breathe and in pain. I kicked my stomach with my right leg, which allowed me to take shallow breaths. I opened my cell phone, but before I could dial I was totally blind. Everything went black for what seemed like an eternity. Slowly my sight returned, and I found my phone in my hand covered in blood from the lacerations on my face.

“With my thumb I was able to dial 911. The dispatcher answered and I told him I had been hit and run inside. I told him I didn’t know how long I had. I gave him the address and my son’s phone number

“Then I must have passed out. When I arrived, John was there gently rubbing my back and my friend, Nathan Schleis, a first responder, was assessing my condition. He asked how I was and I say he was broken inside.

“At my request, Nathan dialed my wife’s number on his phone. Virginia was on her way home from the therapy required following her recent heart surgery. I was able to tell her I loved her before I returned- to pass out

“Five times I went in and out of consciousness. I remember they cut off my clothes before rolling me on the board. Nathan later told me that my broken bones rattled when I was rolled. I remember my wife and family holding hands in a circle around me as they prayed for me before I boarded the Flight for Life helicopter. I found out later that our dog, Bella, wouldn’t let anyone near me while I was there. John corralled her and put her in the truck.

“The next thing I knew I was in the emergency room at Aurora Bay Care in Green Bay. I had two hours of imaging and tests, and my eyebrow stitched up. Then the doctor leaned over and said : “Well, Mr. Klemm, your ribcage and skull did their job. You have no internal organ damage!’ He had four broken ribs, a broken breast bone, stress cracks in his ribs along his spine, a crack in his skull from the bridge of his nose that ran under his eye socket ending at his temple and a cracked cheekbone.

“I was kept overnight for observation and released home at 1:45 p.m. the next day. I walked into the house with the help of a walker. And just 10 days after the ‘accident I was able to be a greeter with my wife at church. That same Sunday I gave witness to the awesome power of God.

“I have no residual effects from the accident. He should have died, but God had other plans!”

This is an original article written for Agri-View, an agricultural publication of Lee Enterprises based in Madison, Wisconsin. Visit AgriView.com for more information.