Ohio

Kane Lewis, a 19-year-old farmer, was just getting started in his farming career when a hunting accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. Unsure of how he would continue to farm, his therapist at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center suggested he contact Ohio AgrAbility to see if he was a candidate for services. Staff met with Kane shortly after he was released from the hospital and made a plan to seek services through Ohio's vocational rehabilitation unit, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD).

Kane was able to demo a truck-bed lift from Life Essentials and a standing Action Trackchair from McCabe Outdoor Equipment. OOD was able to assist Kane in the purchase of these items as well as power sliding doors from Propel Automation of Ohio. He was able to help with both spring planting and the 2020 harvest.

Kane's counselor noted that Kane was the first farmer that she has worked with in 22 years as an OOD counselor. She thanked Ohio AgrAbility for providing agricultural knowledge to help her understand Kane's role on the farm and how the technology would keep him employed.

In addition to farming, Kane is a full-time student at Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio. He is very active in his fraternity and ag clubs on campus. He was featured in a spectrum news story and virtually spoke to a group with Easterseals Northern Ohio, where he showed his equipment and talked about daily activities on the farm

Ohio AgrAbility staff enjoyed participating in the Virtual State Fair - the opportunity to learn more about other SRAPs' activities, clients, partners, and programs was invaluable and made for great social media posts and shares. Staff also appreciated the challenge of learning and refining social media skills - editing, scheduling, captioning, and sharing posts. Ohio AgrAbility staff are hoping that state and county fairs will be back next year, but are thinking maybe the Virtual State Fair should become an annual event...

Submitted by Laura Akgerman and Rachel Jarman