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'Farm accident hasn't stopped my musical dream'

Niall McCrackenMid Ulster reporter, BBC News NI
BBC Stephen McKee is sitting on a red sofa with an abstract cream and green pattern. He has a moustache and dark curly hair which comes down over his forehead and is also long in the back. He is wearing a light blue t-shirt and is playing a banjo. He is looking up towards his left hand which is holding the strings, while he plucks with his right hand. BBC
Stephen McKee had to adapt and change how he played the banjo after his accident

After years of grafting, Stephen McKee's flourishing career as an Irish traditional tenor banjo player almost came to an abrupt end after an accident on his family's farm.

In what he admits is an all-too-common scenario before accidents, the 30-year-old said he was not fully concentrating while repairing a tractor and his little finger became jammed in the machinery.

"When it first happened, I was obviously in shock but the first thing that came into my head was my music, because it is such a massive part of my life, I didn't know what I was going to do," he said.

McKee is one of 156 people who have been injured working on a farm in Northern Ireland since 2019.

Photo by Ciaran Kelly Stephen is sitting on a wooden bench in a pub with his bandmate Gary Curley. Stephen, on the left, is wearing blue jeans. a grey t-shirt and a long-sleeved cream-coloured over-shirt. He is leaning over on his knees and holding a banjo upright between his legs. Gary has short brown hair, worn back off his face. He is holding his accordian between his left knee and left arm and wearing a maroon shirt and blue jeans. Photo by Ciaran Kelly
Stephen is one half of the huge popular Irish traditional music duo Chunky Business, alongside accordionist Gary Curley

In recent years his music career has garnered further acclaim as one half of the popular Irish traditional music duo Chunky Business, alongside accordionist Gary Curley.

On the day of the accident, he had come home from work and went to the family farm to help out.

"Being completely honest, I was in a rush and wasn't concentrating enough on what I was doing and that's when the accident happened," he said.

Stephen is holding his hands up in front of his face to show how the injury has affected his finger. His palms are facing each other about 3 inches apart. The little finger on his right hand is considerably shorter than the one on his left hand. It is also bent outwards.
Stephen's little finger, pictured left, had to be re-attached and he now cannot straighten it and has lost feeling in it

McKee was rushed to hospital, where doctors confirmed he had amputated 95% of his little finger, but luckily, they were able to reattach it.

He added: "I was very lucky as I could have lost my finger completely which would have been a disaster for playing music, but obviously I don't have full use of the finger still.

"I can't fully straighten it and don't have complete feeling it, and it's on my strumming and picking hand so I've had to slightly change the way I play."

Stephen McKee A close up of Stephen's on the arm of a beige sofa. The little finger is swollen and has a number of black stitches in it. Stephen McKee
Stephen's little finger had to be reattached after the accident

Farm safety

McKee is telling his story to try and raise awareness about the dangers of working on a farm.

He urged people "to take their time and concentrate on what they're doing".

"The other thing is to wear protective equipment, I wasn't wearing gloves and in the hospital they spent hours getting out oil of my cut, so just protect yourself as much as you can," he said.

"This could have ended my music career, thankfully things have worked out, and I can still play, but you can't be too careful when working on a farm."

Stephen's story comes as new figures obtained by BBC News NI show that between 2019 and 2025 there were more than 150 farm related accidents in Northern Ireland.

Most of the incidents involved men and the majority occurred in the Mid Ulster and Newry, Mourne and Down district council areas.

A graphic showing Farm accidents in Northern Ireland between 2019 and 2025. There were 156 farming accidents, with 39 fatalities. 35 of the incidents were animal related, 30 were related to falls and 24 were machinery incidents.
More than 150 farm-related accidents have been recorded in Northern Ireland since 2019

The Farm Safety Partnership recently launched a new advertising campaign aimed at reducing the number of work-related deaths and injuries among older farmers in Northern Ireland.

The Farm Wiser to Farm Longer campaign aims to get farmers to realise that as they get older their experience and knowledge may increase - but so do the risks.

Richard Halleron is an experienced farmer who was involved in a serious farming accident last year.

The 67-year-old was tagging a calf when the incident happened.

He said: "I had set up a temporary pen in the corner of the field, and I was about to tag the calf when something spooked one of the cows.

"The cow then ran and hit the fence with an awful rattle and as that happened the calf lunged forward and took me with it."

Richard Halleron is an older man. He is standing in front of a shed with metal gate which is closed in front of some brown cows. He has a short white beard and is wearing a green beanie hat, along with a dark green rain coat over a navy blue zip up top.
Richard Halleron is a seasoned farmer with many years experience

He added: "I can't describe the pain that went through my foot and my leg, I ended up with badly damaged tendons and ligaments and couldn't walk properly for six months."

Richard said the incident has underlined for him the need for farmers to plan any work they're carrying out, especially as they get older.

He said: "It's something I'm now mindful of, I'm looking towards 70 and my reaction times aren't what they use to be.

"I also didn't have anyone else with me that evening, so that's an important lesson. If you have a job to do, make sure there's someone with you to help you out in case something happens."

'Stop and think'

Dave Lowe has short brown hair on top swept over to the right, the hair on the sides of his head is grey. He is wearing a navy coat zipped up to the upturned collar. He is standing in front of a shed made out of corrugated metal.
Dave Lowe is an inspector with HSENI

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) said more than 40 farmers aged 60 and over were killed in accidents during the past 10 years, and hundreds of others were injured - many of them seriously.

Dave Lowe, an inspector with HSENI, said older farmers had "a great level of experience" but there were "risks around reduced mobility and reduced reaction times".

"So with the recent campaign, we're just asking older farmer to focus on little things like taking a mobile phone with them, try not to work alone, but if they are tell somebody where they're going and make sure machines are maintained."

He added: "Small changes can make a big difference, and we're not telling older farmers to stop doing what they love.

"We're asking them to stop and think about the ways they are working and changes they can make so they can keep being a valued member and contributing to the industry."

HSENI also say farm accidents are generally underreported, and are calling on the public to be more proactive in reporting them.

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