By Scott Thompson
MEET THE beautiful brave farm girl who was unexpectedly run down by one of her beloved cows, leaving her with a CRUSHED arm and an open wound that wouldn’t close for TWO WEEKS – but she still loves her cows.
Cowgirl, Grace Peters (21), from Delphos, Ottawa, Kansas, USA, required hospital treatment, surgery and two metal plates placed in her left arm after being trampled on by a cow at her family farm on December 18, 2018.
Grace lived just three miles from the family farm which her father, Jim, built from the ground up. As part of her daily duties, Grace had to check for new baby calves, move cattle around, feed the hogs and horses, making sure they have accessible water to drink during winter.
In December last year, Grace was working on the 2000-acre farm where they had over 400 cattle, moving the cows from one pen to another, as she had done hundreds of times before. When moving the cows on this occasion one of her beloved herd suddenly rammed into her from behind.
Grace was left on her knees in agony, and because of the position of her arm upon impact, she instantly knew something had broken but with more than 100 cows still to move, she mustered the strength to complete the job with her arm dangling at her side.
“It was just a normal day, as usual I was helping the work cows. My job is always in the back moving all the cows up from pen to pen,” Grace said.
“As I was chaining a gate so it would stay open, I suddenly got smashed from behind, I was shocked more than anything because I didn’t see it coming.
“My arm also just happened to be in a very bad position wedged in the panel as I got smashed and I instantly knew something was broke from the intense pain that dropped me to my knees.
“I sat there for a minute trying to catch my breath when the people up front started yelling for more cows.
“I felt the pain instantly, it was very sharp at first, but I was able to cope through it. I left my arm dangling by my side and it eventually went numb and only throbbed.
“From that moment I made a decision that no matter how much it hurt I was going to stay and get the job done! Even though there were around 100 more cows to manoeuvre.
“Why? Because I’m stubborn and my dad needed the help.”
An hour after the incident Grace drove herself to the hospital where she was given X-rays. It was confirmed both bones in her arm were broken and she would need surgery the following morning.
The surgery involved having two metal plates inserted into her forearm to keep the bones stabilised until it healed. Due to the swelling following surgery they were unable to close the wound so instead used a wound vacuum which needed to be changed every 48 hours.
This meant trips to the hospital every two days and five subsequent minor surgeries because areas around the broken bones were also damaged.
Doctors finally managed to stitch her wound up two weeks later, however when they attempted to remove the stitches, after one and a half weeks, it split open again revealing her tendon.
It only took Grace two months to fully recover but she has been left with two large scars on her left arm.
“After about an hour of working the cattle with a broken arm, I finally left and drove myself to the ER. I remember thinking about what colour of cast I might have wanted, but little did I know I wouldn’t be sporting a cast at all,” Grace said.
“They took X-rays and confirmed that both bones in my arm were broken and my whole arm was pretty badly crushed. Next thing I knew I was getting booked into hospital, and had surgery arranged to put plates on both my bones for the following morning.
“After the first surgery, they weren’t able to close the incision on my arm due to the swelling. They placed a wound vacuum on my arm that meant being changed every two days at the hospital.
“I had about four or five more minor surgeries, each time they would replace the wound vacuum and try to close the incision a little bit more.
“Two weeks later they were able to close the incision with staples and stitches. When they tried to remove the stitches the wound split open to reveal my tendon again, so it ended up having to be redone. Now it’s all healed up and I have two gnarly scars on my left forearm.”
The incident hasn’t put Grace off cows. She still loves them but knows they can be dangerous. If anything, it has taught her how strong she is and in March 2019 she left the farm to pursue a career in modelling and acting in LA.
“If cows seem aggressive stay out of their way. Cows stand on their back legs first then front and they give a powerful kick,” Grace said.
“I still love cows. I think they’re powerful and majestic animals. I’ve always been aware that they can easily injure someone, and my arm proves that, but they didn’t injure me on purpose, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Now it’s all behind me and I’ve just moved to LA California to pursue my dreams of being a model and actress.
“I’m the farmer’s daughter you’ve never heard of. I was born and raised on a big farm in Kansas but my whole life I’ve dreamed of being in the entertainment industry. I love making people laugh and smile.”
You can follow her story on Instagram
