Fall while harvesting may be the cause of Murrayville man’s death

Many in Sangamon County don’t realize this, but one of the most dangerous professions in Illinois and around the country is farming. While advances in agricultural science and new technologies have definitely made a farmer’s job easier, they’ve also made it deadlier. When operating heavy equipment or machinery, a momentary lapse in one’s awareness of his or her surroundings can have disastrous results. Yet not just farmers are at risk. Farm employees or family and friends that come to help out are just as likely to be injured or killed in farm accidents, often even more so due to the fact that they aren’t completely familiar with everything going on around them.

Such appears to be the case with Murrayville man who was killed while working on a grain harvest in Morgan County. The man was there as part of his job with a local trucking company. Witnesses say he fell from the trailer of his truck, got back to his feet and walked around a bit, but then collapsed and died suddenly. The exact cause of his death has yet to be determined, but given that he was an older man, authorities believe he may have died due to causes incident with his age as opposed to his fall from the trailer.

While farming is a dangerous business and those who work in it may understand the risks of farm accidents, if it’s believed that unsafe circumstances on someone’s farm or on a work site may have led to another’s injury of death, then the victim of such an accident and/or his or her representatives may be entitled to compensation.