LOCAL

It Happened In Crawford County | Farmer narrowly survives fall into grain

Mary Fox
It Happened In Crawford County
From left, front are Richard Harer and Duane McCombs; and back, Josh Schaeffer, Greg Hartschuh, Jeremy Dunn, Randy and Rick Hanes.

Richard Harer’s close encounter happened on Oct.19, while unloading corn into the grain dryer. He crawled up into the semi to clean corn from underneath the roll tarp. While turning around, one foot got caught in the grain that was moving down through the bottom. He tried to pull his foot out, but couldn’t, and within seconds he was sucked down into the grain.

He knew he was in trouble and threw corn out the top to attract the attention of his brother Ed as the dryer was running and he couldn’t hear Richard. Ed tried to close the door at the bottom of the semi, but Richard’s foot was already sticking out. Ed called 911 and also his son Scott, who arrived in minutes.

Neighbor and firefighter Randy Hanes heard the emergency call and arrived quickly. They uncovered Richard, got his head exposed and cleaned the corn out of his mouth. They held him so he didn’t go down further and they plugged the door as they emptied out the rest of the corn.  About 5 to 8 minutes later, they got him out the bottom of the trailer. His face was blue and he wasn’t breathing.

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The rescue squad from Lykens and Chatfield arrived and started Richard on oxygen and he began breathing. Richard’s son-in-law, Dr. Roy Harris, was racing to the scene of the accident when he learned the ambulance from Bucyrus had already arrived. Harris turned around and raced to meet them at the Bucyrus Hospital Emergency Room to treat his patient. 

Richard was picked up by helicopter to the OSU Medical Center in Columbus. He was totally out of it and the last thing he remembers is throwing corn out the top of the semi. He wasn’t conscious until about three hours after arriving in Columbus. Richard "hollered out" to Dr. Roy Harris when he heard his voice. Everyone was thankful, as they thought he would have brain damage.

Numerous first responders came and assisted Richard in whatever way they could. It’s nice to be a part of a caring community where people drop whatever they are doing to help.

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“I owe my life to the good Lord for having the right people at the right place at the right time," he said.

When things settled down after his harrowing experience, he went to both Lykens and Chatfield fire departments asking what he could do or what they needed? They had been talking about getting the "grain tube device" before the accident and he said he'd help to make the purchase happen in case of a future accident. First responders place the tube around the victim, and it suctions out the corn as it removes the weight and pressure, allowing the patient to breathe. Lykens and Chatfield Township Fire rescue teams just started to respond together for emergency runs, although they are separate departments. They will share the device and whenever a run goes out it will be on the truck, the only one in that end of the county.

Duane McCombs, commodity manager for POET Biorefining in Marion, and Brad Pope, manager of the Fostoria plant and resident of the Lykens community, asked to share the cost of the grain rescue device. 

The Marion POET Plant is one of three in Ohio, the world’s largest producer of ethanol, they are in the middle of expansion at the Marion facility. Next fall, they will use approximately 10 percent of the corn grown in Ohio. Coupled together with Fostoria and Leipsic plants, POET will use 20 percent of corn grown in Ohio in the amount of 55 million bushels. Quite a few corn producers from this part of Crawford County, including brothers Richard and Ed Harer, are good customers.

Lykens Fire Department is self-funded and one of the few departments in Ohio not funded through a tax levy. Their income comes from the Crawford County Fair lunch stand. Chatfield’s Fire Department chicken barbecue is the second Sunday in September and brings in 20 percent of the profit for equipment, radios training, etc. The township tax levy pays for trucks and insurance.

The fifth generation of Harer family farmers carry on the family heritage. Jacob Harer and his family came from Germany and located near Brokensword, then moved on to the Lykens area. Grandfather Ervin Harer started the drainage business in the early 1900s with an 1897 steam ditcher, now restored, the only one in the U.S. Richard’s father Dale continued the business and then after his death, brothers Ed and Richard took over. Ed’s son Scott Harer is now the fourth generation in the drainage business. Richard is blessed with his wife Janet and three daughters Vonda Harer, Beth Harris and Amy Bloomfield. 

One of the last things that Richard’s father, Dale, accomplished in his life was sending a bulldozer to Haiti. He spent two weeks there running the bulldozer and building roads up into the mountains. Dale also spent three weeks on a mission field service in Ecuador, working on a missionary compound. Richard feels blessed as he continues his father’s work by going on mission trips. He has been in several places, most recently, the Dominican Republic doing tile and drainage work to help people in need.  

Readers if you are interested in genealogy or sharing a story email or write Crawford County Genealogy Society, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 Mary Fox email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.