Rescued from a grain bin

http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/rescued-grain-bin

Cecilia farmer Pat Owsley came face to face with a farming danger Thursday. It brought him within seconds of a suffocating death in his own grain bin and he credits God for circumstances that led to an amazing rescue.
He was checking corn in the top of a bin when suddenly he found himself being pulled down in the corn like quicksand.
As he began to sink deeper, he yelled for help. He thought the sound of machinery might swallow his cry. Still sinking, he grabbed a shovel and threw it. It passed through a small opening in the top of the bin.
Mark Williams, who was hauling the corn that day, had started up the ladder when he saw the shovel fly past. He quickly turned off the auger that was loading the corn into the truck. That stopped the vortex of pressure pulling Owsley under.
Owsley calls his ability to get the shovel through on the first try GPS, “God’s Precision Sovereignty.”
Williams went up the ladder to find Owsley stuck in corn up to his armpits. His arms and head were free but the rest of his body was stuck.
Williams dialed 911 and then called neighboring farmer Kerby Grey. After Grey arrived, he knew what to do because he had just attended a farm safety training that reviewed the exact situation.
Rescue workers arrived and the farmers, firefighters and EMTs started to work.
A rope was tied around Owsley and attached to the top of the bin. Then a barrel with both ends cut out was slid over his body and a wet/dry vaccum was used to clear the corn around him. When they cleared enough corn, to a level a little lower than his waist, they were able to pull him out.
Owsley was trapped for a few hours, but surprisingly, even being claustrophobic, he remained calm.
Williams, Grey and a rescue worker stayed with Owsley the entire time. Rescue workers in the bin and on the ground worked tirelessly to free him, even discussing alternate plans if the current one didn’t work.
When Owsley emerged from the top of the bin, he was surprised to see so many people and vehicles on the farm lot. Along with the fire trucks and other rescue vehicles were dozens of pick-up trucks.
Once farmers in the community found out about what had happened, they showed up in force. That’s how farmers are, a community that cares.
Owsley came out of the incident unharmed. He knows how close he was from a triumph becoming a tragedy. Seconds really.
He is grateful for Williams and Grey’s quick thinking and the rescue workers who worked to free him. But most of all he is thankful to God and how he used these people to free him from the corn.
He believes that all the events leading up to the situation — the shovel going through the opening on the first try, his calmness through the entire ordeal and the training Grey had received — was no coincidence. He has seen God working throughout and gives him the credit for coming out of this incident unharmed.
I am grateful too, because this farmer is my dad.
I have lived each day since amazed by how God helped him through it, grateful for those who helped and thankful my dad is safe and able to tell his story.
Words cannot express the joy I felt just being able to stand next to him in church Sunday and the time that has been cherished since Thursday.
Time may pass and the other events will float in and out of our memories but the gravity of the situation of March 3, 2011, and the blessings that followed always will be remembered.


THANKS TO ALL
Pat and Linda Owsley would like to thank the emergency personnel who responded so quickly to our emergency on Thursday. Everyone was very calm and professional and sought only to make a bad situation easier for us. We also would like to thank Kerby Grey and Mark Williams for their quick thinking and for using their knowledge and skills in a way that makes us very proud to be farmers in Hardin County.
Thank you to our friends and family who started praying the minute they heard and then called with well wishes and offers of help if we needed it. Praise be to God, for he is good.