Farmer grateful for his ‘angels’

Tambellup farmers Peter Carey and Rose Duckett can vouch that extraordinary gifts can come out of tough times after Mr Carey was in a horrible accident last December.

During the busiest time of the year for the grain farmers, he survived a serious car accident while on his way to begin harvest for 2018.

Suffering collapsed kidneys, he was flown to Perth via the Royal Flying Doctor Service and hospitalised with no choice but to leave his farm during the crucial stage of farming. What came next turned a horrible situation into a heartwarming tale of generosity.

The small country town came together and mustered their harvesters for a mammoth harvest of Mr Carey’s crop — stripping his crop in a matter of days, a fraction of the time it would have taken him.

Calling everyone who helped her “Mighty Angels”, Ms Duckett said paddocks were allotted for each team and road trains and trucks were booked to pick up the grain continuously.

“Quite accidentally, I was told about a surprise which was also happening behind the scenes — Fiona Thorn and Vicki Green had decided to have a huge cook-up and provided everyone with delicious country fare,” she said. “Peter in the meantime was not travelling well; he suffered a huge seizure soon after arriving in Perth and this dangerously delayed preparing him for dialysis and all the delays had enabled the kidney’s toxins to continue spreading and had begun to affect his brain.”

While the future looked precarious for Mr Carey, Ms Duckett said the extraordinary news of what was happening to his farm was the best gift. “The stress lifted from his shoulders, it gave him the courage to fight on and I was breath-taken by their generosity and goodwill. No words can be found to thank them enough.

“There was a real sense of camaraderie — an unusual opportunity of getting together as a community with a mission.”

People the couple didn’t even know personally had come together during the tough time, most of them dropping their own harvests to lend a helping hand.

Reflecting on the recent months, Mr Carey said in regional areas it was understood that your neighbour was also your fire brigade, your helper, counsellor, your mentor and friend. “But you never imagine that you’ll ever be the one to need to ask for that help,” he said. “My time came, however, when I had my accident; it’s been very humbling and has absolutely restored my faith in the goodness of people.