Sask. farmer donates accessibility equipment to younger farmer with disability

Merle Malin came across the photo of a young farmer using a mobility assist purely by accident in a local newspaper.

Once he saw Levi Jamieson, though, Malin knew he had a unique ability to help.

Malin, a farmer from Redvers, is a paraplegic. For 18 years after his accident, Malin continued to work as a farmer using a hydraulic lift system to help him get in and out of his massive farming machinery.

The lift mounts on a truck and helps lift people in wheelchairs to tractors or combines when they are working. It can pivot 180 degrees and extend eight feet in the air and 11 feet away from the vehicle it’s mounted on.

Malin says the lift has allowed him to get into some small and delicate places because of its flexibility.

Levi Jamieson (right) alongside Merle Malin receiving the hydraulic lift. (Diane Jamieson/Submitted)

“Before I got the lift, I basically could not get in and out of my equipment,” Malin said, explaining the importance of the tool when navigating large equipment daily — equipment that can pose difficulty even for those with the use of their legs.

The lift is valued at about $50,000.

These days, Malin was mostly using the lift to get in and out of his truck and to pick apples in autumn.

Jamieson stood out to Malin because the young man was using a mobility assist and didn’t have the use of his legs. Malin was able to get in contact with Jamieson, learning he had lost the use of his legs in an ATV accident two years prior.

Malin’s response was to donate his lift system to Jamieson to assist with his work.

“I knew the barriers that I had faced, farming for 18 years after my accident, and I thought this would be something that would be of value to Levi,” he said.

Malin went around to schools in his area for a number of years, talking about how an accident like his or Jamieson’s can change someone’s life forever and the importance of accessibility.

“The biggest challenge is being able to get into your machinery,” Malin told Gormley guest host Taylor MacPherson on Tuesday.

Malin feels areas like his community are starting to better understand and accept disabilities as the years go on. He was grateful to be able to pass along the piece of equipment that critically impacted his own life to someone else uniquely situated to need it.

“It has been an absolutely amazing piece of equipment for Levi!” Jamieson’s mother, Diane, wrote in a message to 650 CKOM. “Levi can get into pretty much any piece of equipment he wants to now and not only that, he can do so independently, which is so important and inspiring.

“Merle is such a kind man and they have become really good friends.”