This is Teresa and Tim Vander Zwaag. Tim
is also known as the farmer that cheated death. God had plans for Tim that day
and it didn't include bringing him home to heaven just yet.
Please listen to the radio - WHTC 1450AM
or online at www.whtc.com Wednesday, February 19, morning 8:20 AM to hear him
tell his story.
Dec. 7 was a cold bitter day in West
Michigan. Tim was finishing up his work before going home for a date night with
his wife Teresa when the unthinkable happened.
As a farmer one of the most respected things
on the farm are PTOs. A power
take-off (PTO) is any of several
methods for taking power from a power source, such as a running engine, and
transmitting it to an application such as an attached implement or
separate machines. In this incident it was basically a long shaft connecting
the tractor to a manure spreader. When the speed of the tractor is increased
the shaft spins. It is a powerful force.
Tim had spread his last load and was
cleaning the spreader out when his foot slipped on a cornstalk and he fell into
the PTO. The PTO immediately grabbed his Carhartt jacket. Because of the
extremely cold weather Tim had several layers of clothing on to keep warm. The
PTO is like an angry, hungry monster. Once it gets a hold of something it isn't
satisfied until it has it all.
Neither Tim nor anyone else is any match
for a PTO. The PTO dragged him into its grip and beat him around the shaft two
times before miraculously spitting him out. He never lost consciousness. He was
totally naked except his right boot.
There are no words to describe the pain
Tim felt. He later found out his injuries included his scalp being torn away,
four broken ribs, split spleen, broken vertebras in his back, his hip was
totally out of the socket and the femur bone broken. His ankle was crushed and
he had other minor scrapes to his hand. All injuries were to his left side.
The side that came into contact with the PTO first before being pulled in.
He knew he was in trouble and had to act
quickly or he would die from the cold or any of the unknown injuries he had.
He called out to God and asked for help.
He felt God answered him, gave him clarity and the power to do what he had to
do.
He crawled on his elbows to the tractor
and somehow got back up into the tractor seat.
Once in the tractor he put the tractor in
gear.
I asked him how he was able to do that
with a crushed ankle. He said he picked up his other foot with his hands and
slammed it down on top of his broken ankle to get the clutch in. He put it in
gear and then let the clutch pop out. I wondered what kept him from falling off
the seat with the jerk of that maneuver.
He had to drive 1/4 a mile to get to the
road . . .
I'm going to stop here. I want you to hear
this in his words, his voice.
Please listen in.
I will be posting the podcast here once it
is available.
This is a story you won't want to miss.
And, you will hear it from Teresa's point
of view.
Farmers are tough.
I watched Tim struggle at the radio
station to get up the steps with one good leg and the other one swollen, bulging
and splinted. He was determined and resolute and his focus was on one
thing – get inside the building.
I could see his grit and willpower that served him well during the
accident in action that morning conquering the steps.
But, there is not enough willpower, grit or determination that got
him back on the tractor and to people who could help him.
Teresa and Tim are the first to recognize the supernatural help
and intervention that day and the days since.
Come back in the next few days to hear the rest of the story.
