{"id":6957,"date":"2021-09-14T10:23:16","date_gmt":"2021-09-14T14:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/?p=6957"},"modified":"2021-09-14T10:23:16","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T14:23:16","slug":"closer-look-harvest-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/2021\/09\/14\/closer-look-harvest-of-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Closer Look: Harvest of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cheryl Tevis1<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

Reprinted with permission from the National AgrAbility Project<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Mike
Mike with son Tyson in truck cab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mike Koepke was 13 when he began helping his dad on the family farm near Cut Bank, Montana. \u201cMy older brother told me he wasn\u2019t coming back after college, so I decided to make agriculture my life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In 1982 he and his wife, Sheila, graduated from college, and started farming. Over the next 31 years, the Koepkes grew their business, raised a family of three, and looked forward to farming for as long as they enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

One foggy October morning in 2013, this goal became more challenging. Mike had harvested the spring wheat and signed a contract to sell it. \u201cI took Sheila to work, and headed home to start hauling,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Mike was driving their 2012 Ford Fusion when suddenly he saw headlights coming at him in his lane. A big belly dump semi-truck hauling gravel had pulled out to pass a 4-wheel-drive tractor. He braced for impact, as the semi hit him head-on.<\/p>\n

\u201cPieces of the car were disintegrating, metal and plastic were twisting and breaking apart around me,\u201d he says. \u201cI cried out, \u2018Oh, God. . . Oh, God!\u2019 I asked for His help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trapped in the vehicle, Mike dialed 911 three times, but the line was busy. The sheriff\u2019s line was busy, too, but he reached Sheila. By the time a co-worker rushed her to the scene, the sheriff, fire trucks, and ambulance had arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank goodness, he was driving a vehicle with safety features, and wearing his seat belt,\u201d Sheila says.<\/p>\n

The fire department used the Jaws of Life to extricate Mike, and he was taken to Northern Rockies Medical Center in Cut Bank. X-rays didn\u2019t indicate life-threatening injuries. \u201cI was told, \u2018If you can stand for five minutes, you can go home\u2019,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But as Mike tried to swing his legs off the exam table, he felt his pelvis abruptly shift. A CT scan revealed it was shattered. He was taken by ambulance to Great Falls, where he had surgery to insert a plate and eight screws. The torn ligament in his left leg, and an injured right wrist would need to heal.<\/p>\n

Mike was hospitalized for nine days. At home, he began the slow process of recovery. \u201cI couldn\u2019t make it up two steps into the house with a walker\u2014I had to hop,\u201d he says. Sheila adds, \u201cEvery day, he got up, put his clothes, shoes and socks on, and hopped to a living room chair. He never stayed in bed. Ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three months after the accident, the Koepkes\u2019 son Drew was married. \u201cWe hid Mike\u2019s crutches in the wedding pictures,\u201d Sheila says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to learn to walk again,\u201d Mike says. But physical therapy three days a week required a team effort. Sheila was working full-time, so their children: Tyson, a molecular plant scientist at Washington State University, Ashley, an associate registrar at the University of Providence in Great Falls, and Drew, an information technology specialist who lives in Missoula, adjusted their schedules so they could take him. And that\u2019s not all.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy kids taught me to drive again,\u201d Mike says. Sheila adds, \u201cThey didn\u2019t tell me\u2014I was at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

He returned for surgery on his wrist in June, and a steel plate and nine screws were inserted.<\/p>\n

Taking care of business<\/h3>\n

\"ManIn the meantime, the farm work couldn\u2019t wait. The Koepkes farm about 2,000 owned and crop-shared acres 20 miles south of the Canadian border. The immediate need was to hire trucking to deliver their high protein spring wheat for export to Pacific Rim countries.<\/p>\n

Their malt barley goes to MALTEUROP in Great Falls. \u201cWe feed the world, and try to quench its thirst,\u201d Mike says.<\/p>\n

Adjustments also were required on the home front: the Koepkes\u2019 century-old farmhouse. \u201cThere was one small bathroom, with a toilet, sink, and tub,\u201d Sheila says. \u201cMike used a transfer bench and a hand-held shower head\u2014but it didn\u2019t work for what he needed.\u201d In January 2014, their remodel featured an accessible toilet, walk-in shower, safety bars, and built-in bench. \u201cIt made a safe place for him to shower independently while I was at work,\u201d she says. \u201cSmall changes can be big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike progressed from crutches to a cane. \u201cI still was having balance issues,\u201d he says. He also noticed difficulties with dexterity and calculations.<\/p>\n

It was 2016 before they recognized the cause. \u201cWe lived in a place of shock and trauma for a long time,\u201d Sheila says. \u201cWe just got used to the way things were.\u201d<\/p>\n

After tests revealed that Mike had suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI), he went to speech and memory therapy. \u201cMike never felt sorry for himself,\u201d Sheila says. \u201cWe just kept trying to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the spring of 2014, the Koepkes hired a neighbor to plant. \u201cMy goal was to harvest it myself,\u201d Mike says. \u201cThe kids came home weekends or took time off to help us do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February 2015, Mike\u2019s torn ligament led to a total knee replacement. Again, he hired the planting and spraying.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Sheila\u2019s brother discovered the National AgrAbility Project (www.agrability.org<\/a>). Bill Field, National AgrAbility director, Purdue University and Bill Begley from Life Essentials, a mobility equipment company, visited the Koepkes to share information about assistive farm equipment and adaptations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was our best day in three years,\u201d Sheila says. \u201cWe were struggling to get back to normal–we just didn\u2019t know how.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to AgrAbility, Mike began listening to music as therapy, and practicing repetitive phrase and word exercises. AgrAbility also offered tips for reorganizing his farm shop.<\/p>\n

In 2019, the Koepkes traveled to Maine for their first National AgrAbility Training Workshop, where they found an encouraging sense of kinship, and useful workshops.<\/p>\n

\"Front:
Front: son Drew, Sheila, grandson Kael, Mike, daughter-in-law Selene. Back: daughter-in-law Anne Marie, son Tyson, daughter Ashley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2020, Sheila retired after 20 years as a Farm Service Agency program technician. \u201cI needed a job, so I was up at 6 a.m. the day after,\u201d she says. Mike handled the spraying, with help from Drew, Tyson, and Sheila.<\/p>\n

The Koepkes recently welcomed the birth of their first grandson. \u201cMike has come a long way,\u201d Sheila says. \u201cWe\u2019re still looking at adaptive equipment, as our budget allows. We didn\u2019t realize there\u2019s so much hope out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cI don\u2019t think I can convey how much better AgrAbility has made our lives. Bad things can happen to good people. We all go through challenges in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

1<\/sup>Cheryl Tevis was senior risk management editor with Successful Farming magazine for many years. She is currently a freelance writer and editor with AgPerspectives, Inc. and president of Iowa Women in Agriculture.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cheryl Tevis1 Reprinted with permission from the National AgrAbility Project. Mike Koepke was 13 when he began helping his dad on the family farm near Cut Bank, Montana. \u201cMy older brother told me he wasn\u2019t coming back after college, so I decided to make agriculture my life,\u201d he says. In 1982 he and his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"5","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agrability","category-news"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2,"label":"AgrAbility"},{"value":5,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/author\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":2,"name":"AgrAbility","slug":"agrability","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":54,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":2,"category_count":54,"category_description":"","cat_name":"AgrAbility","category_nicename":"agrability","category_parent":0},{"term_id":5,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"News about AgrAbility","parent":0,"count":258,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":258,"category_description":"News about AgrAbility","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6960,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6957\/revisions\/6960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}