It was a sunny September afternoon. The unexpected plentiful harvest gave Aaron Hinnah and his family a lot to work with on their 2,000-acre farm in Sigourney.

Aaron, along with his dad and brother Wes, set up a makeshift apparatus using a hopper and an auger to transport corn.

They used older bins that hadn’t been touched in years.

Aaron, then a sophomore in high school and a three-sport athlete, stood trying to hold the wobbling hopper in place. But he got too close to the auger, a metal corkscrew inside that spun and carried the crop up.

That’s where things turned tragic.

“Before I knew it, it was pushing my hand in,” Hinnah said.

Hinnah’s right hand got caught underneath the spinning auger. He managed to release his hand in time.

Wes, watching the whole thing, saw his younger brother simply stand there, holding out an intact but now torn up, bloodied hand out in front of him.

“He kind of just stood there in shock, didn’t realize the pain,” Wes said.

Wes ran towards his mother for help while their dad swiftly tore off his shirt and wrapped a makeshift bandage around the injured hand. After a quick analysis of the injury by everyone including Aaron’s mom, an experienced paramedic, they made the decision to drive to an Iowa City hospital, an hour’s drive from home.

The diagnosis and treatment wasn’t bad: 32 stitches and a few broken bones in Aaron’s pinky finger. The damage was done but could’ve been much worse. Had Aaron been on the other side of the auger, his hand might have and probably would have been sucked into the spinning blades, causing much more damage than some stitches and a broken finger.

Aaron spent a month in a cast and has since fully recovered, save for a few visible scars and minor flexing issues in his fingers. Now a junior majoring in psychology, he said the accident gave him a new outlook on life.

“I feel really, really fortunate,” Aaron said. “When this happened, it kind of opened my eyes and it was just like ‘OK I finally get it now.’ It made me pay a lot more attention to the way I treat people.”

His brother has noticed the change as well.

“It defines who he is, defines how he acts,” Wes said. “Definitely saw a change in him. It was definitely good for him and made him the person he is now.”

Aaron has spent the past three years as a pitcher on the ISU club baseball team, using his mended right hand to throw home.

Teammate and fellow pitcher Jeff Peterson has been with him every step of the way and has noticed his demeanor on and off the field.

“He’s a very hard worker, has lots of dedication, always at practice,” Peterson said. “He has offered lots of suggestions to us this year and is a constant source of feedback for our team, which is good.”

Wrapping up another season on the club team, Aaron may not have major-league talent, but he does have a new energy and focus that is undeniable.

“[After the accident] I’d read stuff on the inside of my hat that would say, ‘Hey, you’re fine, you’re lucky to be throwing a ball, you should be happy to be out here.’ And that would kind of relax me,” Aaron said.