Farmhand who smashed his penis in horror workplace accident leaving him with ‘no sexual function’ pays tribute to his ‘very understanding wife’ as his former employer is fined $75,000
- Cotton farm worker almost crushed to death by collapsed trench wall in 2017
- Russell Ballard pinned from waist down and still bears physical and mental scars
- He spoke out after former employer was fined $75,000 with no conviction
A cotton farm worker who smashed his penis in a horror workplace accident has paid tribute to his ‘very understanding wife’.
Russell Ballard, then 48, was laying irrigation pipes for a closed railway line on a farm near Toowoomba in Queensland in 2017.
He suffered multiple fractures to his hips, spine and ribs when a wall in the 3.6 metre deep trench fell and pinned him from the waist down.
His genitals were also severely damaged.
Cotton farm company Culverthorpe Pty Ltd were fined $75,000 after pleading guilty to a health and safety breach Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday.
Two-and-half years on, Mr Ballard is still physically and mentally scarred from his near-death experience.
Russell Ballard who smashed his penis in a horror workplace accident has paid tribute to his ‘very understanding wife’ Debbie (pictured left with Russell)
Mr Ballard spent a month in hospital after a trench collapsed on top of him two years ago
He only recently re-entered the workforce for the first time since the accident and now works as a school bus driver.
He still has nightmares about being buried alive, which he says he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy.
He now has a fear of driving in tunnels, can only walk or stand for short periods, still suffers crippling anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
‘You know even though I smashed my penis, I can still walk. The doctors can’t believe I can walk, let alone ride my motorbike, so I am glad I can walk,’ Mr Ballard told the Brisbane Times.
Russell suffered multiple fractures to his hips, spine and ribs in a workplace accident in 2017
‘I have no sexual function any more, well it is very, very reduced. Lucky I have a very understanding wife.
‘I get flashbacks pretty well every day, my head … everything goes back to it, just seeing myself squashed and thinking ‘this isn’t good’.
The court judgement published online this week states Culverthorpe Pty had no formal protocol for trenching and pipe laying.
‘The risk of trench collapse was foreseeable and the risk of serious injury or death as a result was also foreseeable,’ the judgement states.
The former cotton farm worker (pictured) recently returned to work as a school bus driver
‘Mr Ballard, inexperienced in trench excavations, sustained serious injuries requiring surgery and hospitalisation for a month. He was supervised by persons who had received no specific training in trench excavations.’
No conviction was recorded.
‘In this case, while the offence is serious, it is not so serious as to warrant the recording of a conviction for a first offence committed by the defendant who is a good corporate citizen and otherwise of good character,’ the judgement concluded.
Russell Ballard (pictured) still has nightmares about the accident that almost killed him