FS4JK Youth Representative
Kristi Ruth

Kristi Ruth is a junior in high school from Chariton, Iowa. In 2007, Kristi’s life changed dramatically. She was a farm safety advocate who suddenly found herself an incident survivor.

After her uncle was killed in a rollover incident, Kristi and her brothers constructed a tractor rollover demonstration that they displayed at the Lucas County Fair to raise awareness about tractor safety. When she started back to school in the fall of 2006, her Ag teacher encouraged her to compete in an FFA prepared public speaking contest. She used her tractor safety background to compose a speech addressing the four most common tractor-related hazards: rollovers, runovers, roadway collisions, and the Power Take Off (PTO) shaft. The judges awarded her a gold medal for her heartfelt presentation.

Shortly after, Kristi was drilling postholes to construct a new head chute before calving season began when her arm got pulled into the PTO shaft of a posthole digger. In seconds, she had suffered debilitating injuries and nearly lost her arm. Doctors were able to save her limb but she struggles to complete every day tasks because of her limited range of mobility. Last summer, Kristi spoke at the 4-H County Fair and the Iowa State Fair and displayed the clothes she was wearing at the time of the incident to illustrate the unrelenting destruction caused by the spinning PTO.

Farm Safety 4 Just Kids is proud to add Kristi to their network of Youth Representatives. You can contact Kristi at farmgirlkris@iowatelecom.net.