Lyle Griffin was helping his future son-in-law with the autumn harvest when a farming accident nearly took his life.

On a Thursday morning, Griffin was working at the farm, hauling canola.

As he stepped beside the rear wheel of the combine to check on something, the driver — Griffin’s future son-in-law — was unaware of Griffin’s proximity and turned the rear wheel, knocking Griffin down as 3,500 pounds of pure machinery rolled over his mid-section.

Immediately, local paramedics from Langenburg arrived, stabilizing Griffin before speeding 45 minutes to the hospital in Yorkton. Griffin experienced severe internal bleeding, multiple torn muscles and ligaments, as well as a dislocated pelvis. Remarkably, he broke no bones.

At this point, having received five units of blood in Yorkton, his blood loss was critical, and he needed urgent care beyond what Yorkton could provide. He needed to be transferred to Regina.

Without continued transfusions during transport, Griffin would not have survived. STARS was notified and the crew transported him to Regina safely, transfusing two more units of blood along the way.

Griffin was rushed into a successful emergency surgery upon landing. He remained at the Regina hospital for a week to recover before being transported back to Yorkton hospital, then finally back home where he had access to a hospital bed, a ramp, and the support of his wife, who worked from home to assist him.

Recovery was challenging. Accustomed to staying busy as a motorsports part technician, Griffin struggled with the stationary activity of healing. As soon as he was able, you could find him in his garage.

“It was like I was in heaven again,” said Griffin. “I didn’t even think about my injury. I was in there for four hours.”

He passionately put his skills to work, building model helicopters as a gift to the STARS crew that saved him.

“If I’m going to build something, I might as well build something that shows appreciation for the team that was there for me,” Griffin said.

Just four months after his accident, he reunited with the entire crew from his mission, presenting them with his handcrafted models.

A testament to his resilience, Griffin continues to recover well. Now walking with just a limp, he looks forward to gaining strength and soon returning to another one of his joys — working alongside his future son-in-law on the farm.