A hill farmer who sustained serious injuries after catapulting from his quad bike is encouraging others to wear a helmet every time they ride an ATV.
The plea is part of a major campaign by farming charities RSABI and the Farm Safety Foundation, urging farmers to think more about their safety.
Sheep producer Callum Lindsay, who farms on the Isle of Arran, sustained major head injuries when he had an accident on his quad in October 2023.
He was moving sheep from an area which was flooding when the quad he was riding without a helmet hit a stone concealed by bracken on a track he used regularly.
He was catapulted from the bike, hitting the front rack with his face before landing unconscious, having sustained injuries to his neck and back as well as serious trauma to his head.
When he came round 30-40 minutes later his dogs had finished the work he had sent them to do and returned to him.
Callum realised he was in real trouble and had no mobile signal, adding to the seriousness of the situation.
He managed to get back on the bike to ride to an area with signal where he called his wife, Zara.
He was transferred to the mainland in bad weather via air ambulance and found the helicopter journey – when the pain really kicked in and he was unable to move – incredibly difficult, mentally as well as physically.
RSABI's six-month 'Use Your Head. Use Your Helmet' campaign features a video of Callum, who explains he now always wears a helmet when riding a quad bike.
He said of the incident: “My head felt like it was going to explode but my biggest worry was ‘how is the work going to get done? Who is going to do it? Will I still be able to farm?
“Zara did a great job, an outstanding job, of keeping everything together for the period of time of my recovery.
"I was six months in neck brace and the brain bruising made me incredibly tired for a long time and, with two young children, it a very big ask for her.”
Callum is now committed to the importance of wearing a helmet and is encouraging others to use his story to take quad bike safety seriously.
“I don’t go on a bike without a helmet now. It only takes seconds to put it on and now I feel more comfortable wearing a helmet than without it," he said.
"It’s a lifeline tool and I don’t think about putting it on now, it is just part of my daily routine. It’s something everybody should be doing.”
Over the coming six months, RSABI, working with Yellow Wellies, will be issuing resources to encourage people to always wear helmets on quads.
Carol McLaren, CEO of RSABI, said there had been too many terrible and often tragic accidents on farms in recent times.
"Very often the RSABI team see at first hand the impact, not only on the injured individuals, but also on their families, the farm business and the wider farming community," she said.
“Our hope is that the sustained campaign, running until July, will help to encourage a habit of reaching for helmets before every trip.
“By working with helmet safety ambassadors and influencers in the farming community we hope to start the ball rolling on a change."
Over the past 60 years, the main causes of farmers and farm workers having fatal or serious injuries has not changed.
However, one new danger that has emerged is the use of quad bikes and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV), according to the Farm Safety Foundation, which is also known as Yellow Wellies.
Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the farm safety charity said: “ATVs are becoming part and parcel of every day farming but, like any piece of machinery, it’s not the quad bike that is dangerous, it’s the way it’s handled.
“Stop and ask yourself; do you always wear a helmet? If not, why not? Many ATV deaths have been caused by head injuries and helmets would almost certainly have prevented most of these deaths.
“These vehicles are not fitted with cabs or roll bars, so your only protection is what you wear."
