'If you step in the wrong place, you don't get a second chance'

Castletown dairy farmer, David McAteer (37), died in an accident involving farm machinery in June last year, leaving behind his heartbroken wife Zoe and their four children, including unborn son, Loughlin who was born three months later. Zoe tells NOELLE FINEGAN how the events of that tragic day will remain etched in her memory forever and why she now wants to keep safety to the forefront of farmers' minds

A YOUNG widow who lost her husband in a tragic farm accident while pregnant with their fourth child has spoken of the tremendous pressure farmers are under due to their workload and is urging them to keep farm safety to the forefront of their minds and avoid taking shortcuts, no matter how busy they are.

David McAteer (37), a dairy farmer from Castletown, died in an accident involving a silage wagon on 20th June last year, leaving behind his heartbroken wife Zoe and their four children, including unborn son Loughlin who was born three months later.

It has been an incredibly difficult time for Zoe and the McAteer family as they struggle to come to terms with the tragedy that claimed the life of a devoted husband, father, son, brother and a friend to so many.

The events of that day will remain etched in Zoe's memory forever. She was working four days at the time, and it was her day off. She took the children to school, went to do some shopping and collected son Tadhg from Montessori on the way home.

Zoe was giving Tadhg something to eat and putting away the shopping when she spotted David driving by in the tractor with the silage wagon behind.

“Depending on the day and what was happening, I would give him a call or he would give me a call. It came into my head to give him a ring to see if he was coming in for a cup of tea but I didn't, I thought he was probably busy and I'll leave him at it.

“Next thing I heard someone flying up the driveway. It was David's mother Pauline. She was shouting saying there is an accident, come here quick so I just grabbed Tadhg and put him into the car and we flew down the road.”

When Zoe got to the yard, her father-in-law Jimmy told her that David was in the machine and she still doesn't know she managed to get into the wagon at 24 weeks pregnant but in the moment she hauled herself up the steps to get inside. Straight away, she knew it was too late and that David was gone.

“I still don't understand how he got trapped in the machine. It was just a freak accident. As far as I know, there was a blockage and he got in the back to clear the blockage and whatever happened -whether he slipped or tripped. Once that gets a hold of you, it's game over.

“If you step in the wrong place, you just don't get a second chance.

“David knows, and I know, that he should have turned off the machine but was probably thinking in his own head that if the machine is going, if he is in there to kick the stuff into it and unblock it, it would be a lot faster than hopping in and hopping out and turning it off and turning it on again.

“It was a matter of a split second, an inch the wrong way and he got caught and that was it.”

The next few days went by in a blur and for a long time after Zoe said she was numb and it really didn't sink in and she just had to keep going for the sake of the children.

“For a few days after it didn't sink in at all, for the first couple of months even, in ways it still hasn't sunk in,” said Zoe. The only way I can describe myself was numb really. I was just there, I was trying to be strong, with Loughlin in my tummy, I was afraid. I had to keep calm and try not to lose it,” she recalled.

“It was tough being pregnant and it was tough getting through the rest of the pregnancy without David but the kids keep me going and they have been amazing. Dáithí is eight since March and Alannah is turning seven in June, and Tadhg is five. They have been so good, they been through so much as well. Loughlin is now six months and is like a little ray of sunshine, they absolutely adore him.”

Zoe feels that the huge pressure that farmers are under can be a contributing factor to farm accidents.

“I really want to make the point of the pressure and time constraints that they are under and just the absolute workload- a never ending list of to-dos that you can never ever, ever, get to the bottom of.

“David gave all of himself to the farm, and in a way he didn't even know he was doing it nearly, because it was something that he loved and it was something that he was happy doing but it just sucks you in and takes every moment of your time and effort.

“He was such a great dad, a great husband, a great brother, and he was a great son and I don't know how he found the time to fit it in all either because the farm was so demanding and he had built it up to a scale that for any man working with two elderly parents would be very difficult to maintain.”

Zoe said that while other farmers have certain times of the year where they get a break, for dairy farmers, “there is no let up whatsoever”.

“If we wanted to go on holidays for a week, you are literally talking about planning for months beforehand, trying to get somebody in to cover. David would have to work his ass off and get a million and one things done the week before he went and he would be making up for two weeks work the week we got back.”

Zoe also feels farmers are “totally and utterly disrespected” for the job they are doing.

“The work and the effort and the time and the investment that farmers have to put into their produce, is unreal.

“And the farmer doesn’t have a say on the price at the end of it. It is still completely up in the air from one year to the next what they are even going to get for their produce and they are paying for meal, fertiliser, etc, the cost of which is fluctuating from week to week almost. They don't even know what price their produce is going to be sold at but yet they just have to take it on the chin.”

David studied agricultural science and became a full time farmer after his own father Jimmy was involved in a farm accident, just three weeks after David had started a Masters in UCD and not long after David and Zoe started going out.

Jimmy broke his spine after a straw bale that was stacked on a trailer fell on him and while initially they were told he may never walk again, he gradually regained movement after months in the National Rehabilitation Centre. David gave up his course and started farming full time and also helped and encouraged his father with exercises to help him get back on his feet.

In the aftermath of David's accident, the incredible support Zoe received from family and friends and the local community is something she will be eternally grateful for- from neighbouring farmers helping out with jobs on the farm, to the local shop sending food, to the committee in Wilkinstown putting the afters for David's funeral and to all the people who got in touch or sent cards and messages, flowers,dinners etc.

Zoe has been involved in the local Wilkinstown Community Centre committee for a number of years and they recently approached her with the idea of holding their annual family fun day in David's memory, which Zoe said is a lovely idea.

Zoe hopes the event, while remembering David, will also highlight farm safety and remind people how easily accidents can happen and how everything can change in the blink of an eye.

“I know farmers are all just doing their best. They are dealing with massive machinery. As soon as that rain stopped, they would have been out trying to work off such a massive backlog of stuff they weren't able to get done and bulling and rushing and racing and not thinking and taking shortcuts and it will happen again. David is not the first and he won't be the last and that is in every walk of life and every job.

“Accidents happen so it's just to remind people how easy it can happen and don't take a risk and don't take the shortcuts. The work will be still be there tomorrow.”

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