By Kerry Hoffschneider for AgrAbility
"I want to keep farming,” said Heath Osborn on a Nebraska farm nestled between Tilden and Meadow Grove that he runs with his dad, Kirk, and brother, Joe.
This phrase would be echoed by most farmers trying to stay in the industry they enjoy, but for Osborn, it has meant facing life in ways most have not. At 6 weeks old, his parents Kirk and Cindy found out their son had neuroblastoma, a rare cancer arising from immature nerve cells throughout the body.
“They removed the tumor and in doing so, also severed the nerves,” Osborn said. “I have pain, but a lot of what I deal with is numbness.”
Not knowing any difference, Osborn has pushed through the pain, surgeries and numerous challenges. Today he thrives on the fourth-generation farm, raising corn, beans, alfalfa and an Angus cow-calf herd.
He was able to walk aided by leg braces until about 2007. Then the scar tissues started building up and affecting his spine. I had to have three surgeries in a year – one because he developed MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) in his back – and since then he has been on crutches.
More issues surfaced in 2019. He had finished harvest and was going to work for a feedlot over the winter.
“The morning I was going to go back, I could not turn over because it hurt too badly,” he said. “It turns out I had fractured a vertebra and the vertebrae on my spine were sliding off the top and bottom of each other.”
It led to another surgery in March 2019, and a total of three surgeries in a three-week period. They put rods in then had to fix a tear that caused spinal fluid to leak.
“Finally, the following October, I could do something again,” Osborn said.
But the rods made it difficult for him to twist.
“I couldn’t do things the same way I had,” he said. “I could get into the tractor, but it hurt so badly every time I did it. That’s when we reached out to Nebraska AgrAbility.”
Kirk and Cindy were first introduced to the Nebraska AgrAbility program when their son was in late elementary or junior high school. They came to the farm to see if they could make modifications. There wasn’t a lot they could do then, Osborn said, because he could still do just about anything on his own at that point.
After his 2019 surgeries, it became apparent the program might be of some help, so they reached out again.
Nebraska AgrAbility is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded opportunity that is free to clients and delivered in tandem by staff of Easterseals Nebraska and Nebraska Extension. Rural rehabilitation specialists on the AgrAbility team conduct onsite assessments of the grounds and tasks and suggest modifications to work tasks and equipment that can increase independence and promote farm safety.
“Some will come to Nebraska AgrAbility thinking we pay for the items we secure for farmers and ranchers, or they think our program has the money for purchasing. We are actually not the funding source,” said Angie Howell, vice president of Easterseals Nebraska. “What we do is provide the expertise and appropriate recommendations based on the identified limitations faced by the clients we serve.”
They offer resource coordination and facilitate referrals to community resources. They also work closely with Nebraska VR, Assistive Technology Partnership (ATP) and others who may know of ways farmers and ranchers can gain access to the resources they need.
“It’s all about sharing and collaboration,” Howell said. “Nebraska AgrAbility staff are motivated and inspired to serve the agricultural community.”
Emily Jacobson is a lead rural rehabilitation specialist for Easterseals Nebraska – Nebraska AgrAbility. She is the one who has been primarily working with Osborn to identify the support and secure the help he needs.
“I knew Emily from college and grew up in the area,” Osborn said. “She was very helpful. Once we got through all the paperwork, it went fairly smoothly.”
Resource coordination offered by Nebraska AgrAbility and funding available from Nebraska VR has helped Osborn secure a lift for his tractor and drive-through gates, as well as a side-by-side utility task vehicle (UTV) for the farm with hand controls. Nebraska AgrAbility started the process to garner the UTV with Nebraska VR. Chive Charities was able to fund the remaining balance of the piece of equipment.
Most recently, Jacobson worked with the Nebraska Agriculture Assistive Technology (AT) Fund to help Osborn fund a livestock trailer with a hydraulic jack.
AgrAbility staff believed that a livestock trailer and controlled hydraulic jack system would help Heath be more efficient and productive in taking care of his cattle, Jacobson said. The hydraulic jack allows him to back up the trailer and push a button to lower the trailer onto the pickup and then raise it as well.
“The Nebraska AgrAbility team is so pleased Heath could utilize our program, Nebraska VR services and the Ag AT Fund,” she said.
“I want to keep farming,” Osborn reiterated about the future he wants to keep building with his wife Jacie.
Farming is basically all he’s ever done, he said, and he encourages farmers and ranchers in the same boat to ask about the Nebraska AgrAbility program.
“It helped me secure equipment to work independently that I would have not been able to afford while we kept up with paying our health insurance and everything else,” he said. “I really appreciate their help.”
Contact Nebraska AgrAbility at 800-471-6425 or email neagrability@ne.easterseals.com. Learn more at: agrability.unl.edu.
