Yadkin County ‘miracle girl’ turns childhood injury into awareness campaign

By JACKIE PASCALE

Click here for updates on this story

    YADKINVILLE, North Carolina (WXII) — For the last 14 years, Jesse Keaton has been called a “miracle girl.” But the name stems from a nightmare.

At 6 years old, she fell off her dad’s tractor in Yadkin County while they were mowing hay. In an interview with WXII back in 2008, days after the accident, Keaton described the scary moments of trying to save herself as the blades were still going.

“The big wheel pulled me back and it went on my whole body,” she said in the interview. “I got chopped in my hand a little bit, but I didn’t feel it.”

She ended up having one of her legs amputated just above the knee, a crushed rib, a few fingers sliced shorter and lost a knuckle. Her remaining foot was “butterflied,” according to Keaton, and still gives her issues now as a 20-year-old.

Keaton said she’s met many other amputees since then and their injuries involved farm equipment more often than she expected. According to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, a child dies in an agriculture-related incident about every 3 days.

“Here in Yadkin County, it’s very common to put children on tractors,” Keaton said. “There are families that say to me, ‘It happened to you but it won’t happen to me.’ But I think this is something they need to be educated on because it can happen to anyone. Nobody knew it was going to happen to me.”

Not only does she advocate for tractor safety now, but Keaton also tries to give back to those going through trauma like she did. Since 2020, she’s organized blood drives on the anniversary of her accident.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.