Julie Richardson was feeding her one-year-old son dinner when she heard what she thought was thunder.
Her husband of three years, Brodie, was out in the grain elevator working when her phone rang. She missed the call, but didn’t think much of it – until it rang again, this time from another caller.
“Everything’s OK,” he said.
“But there’s been an accident at the elevator and you need to come to the hospital, Brodie is here.”
Richardson grabbed her son and ran out the door. Then a nurse who was heading in for her shift pulled into the driveway and offered to drive her to the hospital.
She recalled that as she drove through the small town she could see the flames from the elevator from everywhere.
“ I was greatly concerned at that point, ‘cause it was engulfed in flames already,” she said.
“ I really didn’t know what to expect at that point.”
Upon arrival at the hospital Richardson said her husband was conscious and talking, but was in horrendous pain. She remembers noticing all his limbs were intact, and the burns were mostly on his upper body – his legs and lower body had been protected by his work pants.
Brodie is now in recovery and Richardson said that they will have to change his dressings three times a week and will continue to get updates in the coming weeks.
“It’s a day-by-day thing,” she said.
Even with all the stress Richardson said she is amazed by the community support.
“People are looking after our pets and the yard and stuff like that for us and making sure everything’s ok at home,” she said.
A group of farmers from the Douglas area have come together and are helping with the Richardson’s harvest to give Brodie time to recover.
