Farming with disabilities: Carey Portell
Carey Portell was severely injured in a head on accident with a drunk driver, her life forever changed. After two years in a wheelchair, Carey returned to farming with AgrAbility's help.
GUEST
This season we are exploring the concept of 'Steps' - whether they are literal or figurative - we want to explore the steps people are taking to be successful in their lives and businesses. The theme was inspired by this farmer, Carey Portell. Carey is a farmer, mother of four and wife. She survived a head-on collision with a drunk driver that left her in a wheelchair. Four years and twelve surgeries later she was able to walk again, but was limited in how many steps she could take. With the help of AgrAbility in Missouri she was able to successfully farm and have enough steps at the end of the day for her family life. Carey is currently at the peak of her recovery, her injuries so severe that she will begin to decline again in ability. Listen this inspirational episode to hear how Agrability gave her the capacity to return to farming successfully and safely.
“After the three thousand steps my legs will stop working, and there’s nothing that I can do after that, the rest of the day I have to be in the wheelchair. So I was having to count out my steps every day and say, ‘ok well if I do my tours in this order I think I can get through them all’, but it was still causing me so much pain. And sometimes I would have to sit down exactly where I was — in the middle of the pasture, in the gravel driveway, in the barn. ”
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Carey Portell | Stronger Than Yesterday
National AgrAbility Project
USDA grants $4.1M for farmers with disabilities
Video with Rolla Police Department
content warning: there are scenes from the time of accident that may be disturbing to some.
IN GRATITUDE
Thank you to Frank Ozmun of Public Market Goods for creating this tee-shirt opportunity for the podcast to stand up that stool of sustainability.
Thank you to Joe Mulkern for writing and performing our theme and show song.
THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY PUBLIC MARKET GOODS, AND YOU!
