'I will never forget being crushed by hay bales'

Christopher Rolfe suffered the injuries when hay bales fell on him

A farm worker and young dad who was trapped by falling hay bales said he was “always reminded” of the injuries he suffered.

Christopher Rolfe, from Horsham in West Sussex, was checking stock in a barn in Great Bookham, Surrey, in April 2022, when he was crushed by the falling bales.

He had to be airlifted to hospital and credits air ambulance aftercare staff with helping him “get his head” around the injuries he suffered.

His son William is now an ambassador for the Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex.

Christopher Rolfe's son William is now an ambassador for the air ambulance charity

He told BBC Radio Sussex: “You grab a bacon roll and a coffee in the morning, and you get to work having gone to the agricultural merchant.

“Before you know it you’re getting airlifted to Tooting.”

Mr Rolfe, who was 26 at the time of the accident, suffered fractures to his pelvis and ankle as well as his ribs.

He described the moment he moved some pallets while collecting hay for a customer.

Having “blacked out” after he was “hit over the back of the head with a big bale”, Mr Rolfe said he then came to in the barn and had to shout for help until a nearby dog walker heard him.

“I'm trapped from the waist down, underneath a bale looking up at the barn roof, not entirely sure what’s going on or how I ended up there,” he added.

Mr Rolfe said those who really “felt the blow” of the accident were those closest to him.

“It was my wife, it was my son, my mum and my dad and my in-laws who had to pick up all those pieces all of a sudden,” he said.

While he is still doing farm work, Mr Rolfe said he needs to be “careful”, and he focuses more now on paperwork.

Still suffering pain with certain movements, Mr Rolfe said: “It’s always a reminder it’s still there."

Dr Duncan Bootland, medical director at Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex, said: “Chris and his family are valued members of Team KSS, and we really appreciate the contribution that his son William has made as one of our Young Ambassadors.”