Atchison County farmer Eric Krutz was busy preparing for harvest on Thursday, September 19, 2024, when he turned on his combine and heard a banging sound in the corn head. While he was out identifying the problem, there was a power switch failure, and his arm/hand was sucked up into the row unit and spit out.

Eric was transported to Mosaic in St. Joseph, Missouri, and then was transferred to Saint Luke’s in Kansas City, Missouri, where he underwent a 9.5-hour surgery to stabilize his injuries. After a rough weekend, he started to undergo surgeries to clean and debride his arm and hand. He has since had his thumb amputated and undergone five surgeries with at least three more to go. Eric is expected to be in the hospital at least three more weeks. However, he has now developed a serious deep tissue/bone infection which could push back the skin graft surgery and extend the stay longer.

Eric’s wife recently lost her job due to the closure of the long-term care facility she was employed at. They have two boys who still need to be taken care of, requiring lots of back and forth trips from home to the hospital. This will be an incredibly long recovery journey with lots of follow-up visits/surgeries once he is finally released from the hospital. Donations are being accepted to help the family with expenses. A GoFundMe account has been set up under “Aid Eric’s Family During His Long Hospital Stay” or you can send donations directly to Eric’s wife by Venmo, @Cassandra-Wilcox-3.