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“If it were to happen again, that’s where we’d go. I wouldn’t think twice about it,” said Sandra Thompson.

Tranquil Days on the Farm Shattered:
Freak Accident Leads Dairy Farmer to The MED

Byhalia, MS (August 2005) – Since 1946, Morris Thompson’s family has been dairy farming in Byhalia, MS. Each day, starts just like the one before it. Up at 2:00 a.m., Morris, his brother and cousin all head down to the barn to get the cows up. There was no reason to think that this tranquil routine would be shattered, but one morning something went terribly wrong.

Thompson and the other men in his family were at the barn, running the cows through the feeder and getting ready to milk them. Back at home, Morris’ wife Sandra was sleeping peacefully, until the phone rang. “I answered the phone and it was his cousin,” recalled Sandra, “he was calm but I could tell it was serious.”

Wearing a bulky overcoat to shield him from the chilly morning temperature, Morris had reached across the tractor to cut it off, when his coat became caught in the power shaft. “My arm wrapped around the shaft three times, just like it was a rag or something,” said Morris. Rushing out of the house and down to the barn, Sandra saw her husband, sitting down next to the tractor with his arm bundled up and covered. Although Morris told her he was okay, Sandra knew it was bad.

Being a volunteer firefighter, Morris was familiar with The MED. He and Sandra had seen Hospital Wing, land on the street in front of their house on numerous occasions, picking up accident victims. They never expected that one day the helicopter would be landing for them.

“We had always heard good things about The MED. They were prepared for him. They already knew what his injuries were and they had things lined up. They were ready to take care of him” said Sandra. “But not only did they take care of him, they took care of me, they knew what I needed.”

Once at The MED, Morris underwent days of surgeries to repair the damage done to his left arm. Morris’ forearm was broken, the bone directly above the elbow was broken and his shoulder was broken in four places. “Just a great bunch of folks,” said Morris about the men and women at The MED. “They kind of remind me of our little volunteer fire department down here, we don’t have a whole lot of money but we work around it, get a little money and do a whole lot of good with it, saving and helping folks.”

Today, Morris is back working on his family’s dairy farm and has regained most of the movement in his arm.