A SHEEP farmer from Wales who sustained serious injuries after being thrown from a quad bike has become a champion of health and safety.

In 2018, Beca Glyn was helping her father round the sheep on her family farm at Ysbyty Ifan, near Betws y Coed, Conwy.

She swerved too quickly, tipped the quad bike which landed on top of her and, as she wasn’t wearing a helmet, she hit her head on the tarmac road.

The accident fractured Beca's skull.

Although she continues to live with some of the consequences of the accident, Beca feels she is lucky.

The 30-year-old said: "I lost my sense of taste and smell, I suffer from migraines and need to take tablets to give me energy but I am very thankful that I didn’t hit a part of the brain that controls my spinal cord or memory.

“Taste and smell are nothing compared to the ability to walk or remember.’’

Beca was taken by ambulance to hospital and only returned to farming after nine months of rest, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, missing an entire lambing season and putting extra work pressure on her parents, Glyn and Eleri.

The accident has made Beca extra careful about farm safety, and also the wellbeing of everyone on the farm, including her father.

“He was with me when I had the accident and in shock, no-one wants to see one of their children unconscious and injured,’’ said Beca.

“We are now more conscious of working at height, handling cattle, all those jobs on the farm. I now won’t help with a job if I don’t think it is safe, therefore dad has to listen to me, otherwise, he knows he won’t get any help.’’

Had she been wearing a safety helmet when her accident happened, Beca’s injuries would have likely been minor, she believes.

“We learn from our mistakes and I know that I would have probably just maybe hurt my neck and had some bruising," Beca said.

Her ability to taste and smell did return last summer, but sadly it was temporary.

“It has come back once, maybe it might again,’’ she added.

As a Wales Farm Safety Partnership Ambassador, Beca wants to instil the safety message across the agriculture industry.

“I wasn’t someone who was reckless on the farm or driving at full throttle before the accident so if it can happen to someone like me it can happen to anyone.’’