Ames triumphs at livestock auction
A few short weeks ago, no one knew for sure if 10-year Putnam County 4-H'er Ethan Ames was even going to make it to this year's fair.
On Friday, a victorious Ethan left the fair's auction ring as the seller of the animal that received the highest bid after his beef steer sold for $7,750.
Ethan, 18, of Fillmore was involved in a serious farming accident on June 13. He was run over by a tractor and suffered several skull and jaw fractures, a broken shoulder and a crushed sternum.
Ethan stayed at Methodist Hospital for over a month, coming home on July 18. He wears an eye patch for now, but his father Kim said there is no reason to believe Ethan won't regain his sight completely. He is having some trouble swallowing, but doctors have told the family that should correct itself in time.
Ethan had a CT scan of his brain on Friday, and his neurologist gave him a clean bill of health.
"All we know for sure is that he's lost the hearing in his right ear and that won't ever come back," Kim said.
The Ames family was bowled over by the generosity of those who bought Ethan's steer.
"We are just so thankful," Kim said.
Ethan nodded in agreement.
"Definitely," he said with a smile.
Ethan coming to the fair at all was a community effort.
"Ethan was able to get his calf and two pigs here, and we didn't do any of it," said Kim.
The money Ethan made from the sale of his steer will come in handy, as he is set to begin classes at Ivy Tech this fall. Ethan plans on studying agriculture and forestry.
As Ethan basked in the joy of his big sale and the end of his last year of 4-H, his mother Gina came to tell him it was time for his IV antibiotics -- something he has to do every day to ward off infection.
Ethan smiled and patted his mother's arm.
"She's my No. 1 nurse," he said.
More results from the Putnam County 4-H Fair auction will appear in Monday's Banner Graphic.