The trellis machine catches his arm and injures him very seriously: a Hérault winegrower airlifted in absolute emergency

La victime a été héliportée à Lapeyronie pour y être opérée.

Un viticulteur de 36 ans a été très gravement blessé par sa machine, ce samedi 15 juin, à Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens (Hérault). Il a été héliporté en urgence absolue au département anesthésie et réanimation de Lapeyronie pour y être opéré.

What happened this Saturday in the vineyards of Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens, north of Pézenas? Only the victim will be able to explain everything when the time comes. In any case, while this 36-year-old wine grower was trellising his vines, he was forced to stop and get off his tractor.

Training is carried out during the period of active vegetative growth of the vine. These operations are generally carried out between spring and summer, when the shoots are still flexible. This is an ongoing process and must be regularly adjusted as the vines grow.

The tractor has restarted

While he was in front of his machine which had been stopped, it suddenly restarted. This restart was fatal. The man was very seriously injured in his arm which he had engaged in the trellising machine. Alone in his vineyard, he still managed to call for help after garrotting his forearm.

"He has a very badly damaged limb, confirmed at Midi Libre, someone close to the investigation. He was airlifted in absolute emergency to the anesthesia and resuscitation department of Lapeyronie University Hospital to be operated on. His vital prognosis is not in jeopardy. He owes it to his gesture of help."

"Tractors restarting, this sometimes happens"

"It sometimes happens that tractors restart alone, confirms a dealer. Sometimes it’s the key switch that’s malfunctioning. These machines are put to severe tests. Often a circuit breaker or a relay is added for added safety. These are stories that I have heard before and often they ended badly. But they were old models and although when stationary one gear remained engaged. As a result, this caused the machine to be coupled to the PTO. The old people spoke of auto-ignition because the engines were very hot."