By Connor Lynch
JOYCEVILLE — It’s still a long road to recovery for a Frontenac County beef farmer crushed by a beef carcass, but his community is pitching in to get him there.
Rob O’Connor, who runs Spruce Hill Limousins, a cow-calf operation just south of Joyceville, was working at an abattoir last October. A beef animal had been hoisted up, and he got behind it to push it onto the rail. But the hanger broke, and the 1800 lb. carcass fell on him, breaking his shoulder in two places, dislocating his hip, fracturing his knee and shinbone and tearing tendons and ligaments.
He’s since had surgery on his shoulder and knee and by January was out of the hospital, but still in a wheelchair. He was due to start physical therapy by February, but isn’t expected to be fully recovered until the spring.
O’Connor, a director for the Beef Farmers of Frontenac County, soon had help from his friends. Kim Perry, who runs a mixed farm with her husband Dave at Harrowsmith, organized a fundraiser for O’Connor. Held on New Year’s Eve, it raised $3,615. Dave Perry, who is also the president of the Beef Farmers of Frontenac County, has also been stopping in at O’Connor’s farm to feed his cattle, and one of O’Connor’s neighbours is helping feed the family.
Perry said that O’Connor, alongside being a director for the local federation, is an active member of the local ag community. Just weeks before his accident, O’Connor showed cattle for the Perry’s at the Kingston Steer Show and Sale, and he’s a regular aide for 4-H members.
