Trying times

PAYNESVILLE — Down a long dead-end driveway, just outside of town, Jerrod and Nicole Quade have an 11-acre farm with a few horses and a couple of cows, in hopes that one day, their daughter, Aria, will appreciate an upbringing much like the ones they each experienced, riding horseback and showing cattle.

The couple purchased a tractor to haul bales, manure and move snow, tasks most farmers are familiar with for raising livestock and living in the country.

On November 30, 2025, the Quades’ world changed instantly when Jerrod was involved in a tractor accident while working on a snow blade with his neighbor. When he started the tractor from the ground, it engaged, running over his abdomen, crushing his right hip and leaving him with a broken right arm, six broken ribs, seven spinal fractures, eight pelvic fractures, damage to his spleen, liver and bladder and arterial injuries, too. Emergency crews were on-site in remarkable speed, and after initial scans at the CentraCare Emergency Department in Paynesville, Quade was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

“That tractor had never started perfectly before,” Jerrod Quade said. “And it hasn’t started perfectly since, so it was just one of those freak weird things where at the turn of the key … it was going.”

Before the couple’s first winter on the farm, they bought a snow blade for the tractor. Quade knew that by buying an affordable used tractor, there would be some fixing that needed to be done. He used it to move snow the first year on the farm, and while it got the job done, the blade was heavy, and it didn’t work quite as smoothly as he would have liked. So, prior to their second winter on the farm, Quade asked his neighbor if he would help him weld on the snow blade.

“I brought the tractor down to the neighbor’s shop and parked it in one of the bays, so he could work on it,” Quade said. “When I set the blade down, it was sitting a little weird, so we needed to lift up the boom on the tractor. To start the hydraulics, you have to start the tractor, so I walked around and started the tractor from the ground, not knowing the tractor was in gear.”

Quade was standing in front of the tractor’s back tire, which was taller than he was. The forward motion pulled his left leg into the tire, causing Quade to fall face down before the tractor proceeded to run him over at an angle.

“My neighbor called 911 first and then called my wife,” Quade said. “The ambulance was there within 10 to15 minutes … pretty incredible considering we are a few miles out of town.”

Suffering from significant injury and internal bleeding, Quade underwent countless hours of surgery as doctors addressed internal and external injuries. He spent three weeks in the intensive care unit at HCMC, and although his injuries were severe, the family said it was a true miracle he did not suffer any severe damage to his head or spine.

After a month at HCMC, Quade was transferred to the inpatient rehabilitation unit at CentraCare-St. Cloud Hospital, where he is still attending rehabilitation therapy twice a week.

“Initially, I worked towards being able to sit up, then to get out of bed on my own and finally getting into a wheelchair on my own,” Quade said. “Once I was able to do that, I was able to go home. My mechanics are still messed up with my right hip, so sometimes I catch myself being unstable, so when I go out I use my cane.”

Quade said he has been fortunate to keep his job with Leedstone in Melrose, where he has been employed for five years as a delivery route driver. Following his injuries, he has now taken an in-shop role working two days a week in between therapy appointments. Quade has a full hip-replacement surgery scheduled for late September, which will leave him with limited mobility for weeks to come. He remains hopeful that this surgery will be his last in overcoming the accident.

The Nordland Lutheran Church community, along with their group of close friends, has provided support for the family through church donations and by starting a GoFundMe. Quade became a church council member last year, after being a member of the church for three years. He shared that in times like this, it has been a gift to be on the receiving end of their generosity. Quade was also nominated to be the beneficiary of the annual Corn Growers Tournament this year that was hosted and sponsored by the Lynx National Golf Course in Sauk Centre.

“I got a call from Ron Spanier, the president of the Stearns County Corn Growers Association, asking if I would accept the nomination,” Quade said. “I don’t know how we got nominated or how he heard about my story … but I was blown away again by the generosity.” While growing up, Quade said he was surrounded by agriculture.
His grandparents are retired dairy farmers from the Padua area. His mother lives in Kimball and his father lives in Paynesville.

Quade showed cattle in 4-H, judged livestock in FFA and now, in his line of work, has gotten to know many area farm families. Seeing communities come together to support him and his family has been a true testament to the phrase, “stronger together,” he said. Through it all, he has held onto his family, his faith and his trust in his medical team.

“Milliseconds changed my life,” Quade said. “Mobility has become my biggest challenge to overcome, but I have already been back out on the tractor hauling manure and driving the side-by-side. My wife and I like to go fishing in Canada, but that and deer hunting might be out of the question this year … I plan to be back at it; we’ll just have to give it a year.”