A Second Chance: After life-changing injury, farmer-turned-researcher now teaches others about agricultural dangers

Robert “Chip” Petrea lost both of his legs in a hay baler accident on his family’s farm in southern Illinois in 1978. Today, Petrea is a principal research specialist in the department of Agricultural Engineering Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Petrea focuses on preventing other farmers from being injured on the job and helping the ones who do adapt in an industry with a higher injury rate than nearly all other occupations. Read more.