Dozens of farmers die every year in grain bin accidents, but most of those tragedies could have been prevented with the right safety measures.

A Logan County man shares his story of being buried in grain, and how those who saved him are even more prepared for the next rescue.

How Tony Stratton manages agric Ham, a division of Hopkinsville Elevator, and December 2024, he responded to a farm where the doors on a grain bin weren't working correctly.

I'd actually got into the band, walked it.

There was nothing concerning about this that day.

Felt like we'd be fine if I got in there and just pulled a couple loads off the wall.

For Tony, who was raised on a farm.

It was just another day on the job.

Multiple times in a grain bin.

Had plenty of experience doing that.

As the first load finished and they were swapping out trucks, he sat down for about seconds before grabbing the grain back hose to continue.

In that time, it had pulled a funnel down, probably 3 or 4ft funnel into the corn with the grain was sucking into the grain bag.

Instead of him pulling up the hose, it pulled him underneath, grabbing his left leg.

In a matter of three seconds.

I was waist deep in corn and it was no coming out of it.

He would become completely submerged before a colleague figured out something was wrong and managed to get his face uncovered.

I remember looking at Joe saying, Joe, you got to get me out of here.

And he tell me, buddy, I'm doing everything I. Can in a matter of minutes, volunteer fire departments from all over Logan County arrived on scene.

Tony began to lose consciousness.

I didn't think he was going to come out of it alive.

And all I could get was he's breathing, but he's.

Unconscious.

It would take about 2.5 hours to dig him out from under all that corn.

Just the crushing feeling alone on the lungs and the stomach and the legs.

It was pretty dramatic.

He would spend the next few days in a Nashville hospital, but has no lasting injuries.

God got me out of this.

But it was because of the volunteers, these men that come in and risk their lives to do what they did is why I'm here today.

Majority of all these grain being related incidences across the whole United States, they don't turn out well.

That was confirmed by an insurance adjuster who told Tony she's worked at Grain Bin and Gulf this side of the Mississippi.

And I asked you, how did all those goes?

I said, how many people survived?

And she told me, you're the only one.

And now, if there happens to be another one, they'll have a better chance of survival.

We decided this would be something worthwhile to have in our county.

That's a grain bin rescue team and trailer equipped with the tools they need to respond to an engulfing or entrapment.

We were able to get Tony out and he's still walking, talking, living, breathing today.

But after the incident was over, we seen just how unprepared we actually were for a situation like that.

And we made it as a standalone unit where when it went on scene, we would have anything we would need to do this without relying on any other equipment from any other department.

About 40ft today they're showing 355th graders how it works at a school farm safety event in Russellville.

It's very beneficial in a rural community, even for the city.

The kids that live in the city, because they're not exposed to these kinds of things at home, most likely.

Tony Stratton hopes sharing his story will save lives.

Be smart guys.

I mean, stepping into these situations, you need to fear that a little bit.

It don't take one mistake to change your life.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Laura Rogers.

The Logan County community raised more than $84,000 through local businesses, farmers and other supporters for their grain bin rescue trailer.

It was the first of two in Kentucky.

The other is in Todd County.