Farm Progress

Searching for information about a farm accident that killed a 3-year-old child in North Dakota turns up some chilling results.

October 2, 2017

3 Min Read
FARM FATALITY: A child died in a farm accident in North Dakota.katifcam/iStock/Thinkstock

I recently searched the internet for information about a child who had died in a farm accident in North Dakota.

I typed in “3-year-old-child-farm-accident” in the Google search bar and waited. In less than a second, the sad news came up:

Sept 20 – Newburg, N.D.: 3-year-old Burke Henry of Souris, N.D., was riding with his father, Joseph, on their tractor when the child fell off the tractor and was run over by the rear tires of the tractor. According to the police report, the side door flew open and the child fell out on the ground.

The father was working on the family’s driveway when the accident occurred.

The child was pronounced dead on the scene.”

How sad. Terrible. Tragic even. I am deeply sorry for their loss. A 3-year-old child is so innocent.

I clicked the “back” button and returned to Google. I was ready to move on. Then I looked more closely at the screen and grew cold. Burke wasn’t the only 3-year-old who had died in a farm accident. Among the results Google returned in my search were these from 2017:

 Sept. 25 – Adario, Ohio: A 3-year-old boy was tragically killed in a farm machinery accident in the community of Adario on Monday morning. According to the Richland County Sheriff's Office dispatch center, a call was received at 10:45 a.m. reporting the toddler was accidentally run over by a skid loader. "The child was outside and the father was outside when the accident occurred, and there were others outside as they were doing work near a barn close to the house," said Maj. Joe Masi with the sheriff's office. "Unbeknownst to them, the child was in the area of where they were working."

• July 19 – Baker, Fla: A family is grieving the tragic death of a 3-year-old Joshua Ryles, who fell out of the back of a truck and was run over by the trailer it was towing. The incident, which happened late Sunday morning on a sod farm near Baker, is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. His father, 36-year-old Christopher Ryles of Baker, was driving the truck when the accident occurred, according to preliminary reports. The FHP report indicated that he’d been riding in the bed of the pickup when he fell out and was run over.

• May 16 — Loyal, Wis: A 3-year-old boy has died in a farming accident in central Wisconsin. Clark County sheriff’s officials say the toddler was run over by a skid-steer loader operated by his 5-year-old brother at a farm near Loyal … the boys and their mother were picking up rocks in a field when the 3-year-old was accidentally run over.

• Feb. 27 — Fife, England: Stuart Nelson, a 3-year-old-boy, has died on a family farm after being struck by a vehicle driven by his dad. Sources close to the family said Stuart’s father Richard, 37, was at the wheel when the tragedy happened. Just five days earlier, Richard had posted a snapshot of the youngster inside a farm vehicle on social media and wrote: “It’s Stuart’s birthday today — a big three.”

I could go on … and on … and on. Google had returned 20,400 matches.

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