P.A. businessman remembers close encounter with combine

Possibly because he was in shock, Lewko said he did not feel any pain and there was no blood splatter, as the machine was burning its way through his hand. After successfully disconnecting the combine’s fuel line, Lewko would try to pry himself loose.

“Eventually I tried to put [my hand] through because I figured at least I’d be out. I just considered the hand a loss at that point,” he said.

Minutes later Lewko would successfully free himself from the machine and noticed what sort of damage had been done. The leather glove on his right hand had been worn away and the bones on his hand were entirely exposed. Lewko’s next challenge was getting back to the house and calling for help. Back in those days very few farmers had the luxury of having a cell phones. Lewko hopped in the combine and slowly started the journey back to the farm house.

‘I got over the first hill and started going up the second hill, and that’s when the combine ran out of fuel,” he said.

For the first time since his accident Lewko has taken pictures of his injured hand. (Submitted photo/ George Lewko)

After making it to the house on foot, Lewko then discovered his keys were in his right pocket. Rather than trying to struggle with his left hand, Lewko kicked down the door, and ran to the phone.

“There was a rotary dial phone at that time and I tried phoning the neighbour, and it must have taken me 20 or 30 attempts to call the neighbour, I just couldn’t do it,” he explained.

Lewko’s neighbour immediately came rushing over and Lewko made another call, this time to the hospital in Prince Albert to alert them to have a surgeon on hand. Before leaving the house, Lewko said his neighbour reminded him to bring along a towel, which he recalled at the time seemed like a strange request.

“On the road is what the towel was for, something to bite down on when the pain kicked in and it did,” he said.

Despite the doctor’s best efforts, Lewko would end up losing the greater part of his right hand, including all four fingers. He said in the following two years after his accident, he was quite sensitive about what had happened and would try to cover his injury.

“Those bones are not meant to be touched in that way and in the first two years if I just touched them in a desk, I was on my knees almost puking,” he said.

Today Lewko is more comfortable sharing his story, adding most people do not even notice his right hand. He joked one client who has been coming to his business for five years, had only recently noticed there was something missing. In the fall, Paintball Paradise has a haunted corn maze and Lewko joked he likes to have fun with the kids, using a jar of fake fingers.

Those who dare to visit Lewko’s haunted corn maze are in for a nail-biting good time. (Submitted photo/ George Lewko)

“They don’t notice [my hand] the first time they look and then [my] mom goes look again and when they look again, that’s when they notice, and that’s when they put the jar of fingers down really slowly like the most carefully you’ve ever seen,” he laughed.

Lewko, who gets asked to share his story at farm safety events, said people tend to learn better when they can see up close the risks involved with working around farm equipment. Reflecting back now on what happened Lewko said he tries to stay positive and take the good with the bad.

“If I go in to fancy restaurants the guys will cut my steak for me. I can eat with my hands in the fanciest restaurants and nobody says a thing,” he said.

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Nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On twitter: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

P.A. businessman remembers close encounter with combine

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