Orrie Babichuk: Life Journey to Career in Agriculture

I was 19 when I crashed my snowmobile on New Year’s Eve 2018 and became paralyzed around level T 5/6 and down. The next year after my injury I was pretty lost and never knew what I wanted to do in life long term because my previous job was very physical and not an option of returning to. In the meantime, the first fall I went to the farm I use to work for and we built a lift to go on the combine to get me in and the same for a tractor later that next spring. Going forward I knew just working during seeding and harvest was not a practical job for me but, working on the farm did make it clear to me I have a passion for agriculture.

I thought about it for a while and knew I had that passion for agriculture and tried to find how I could turn that into a career. I spent the next couple years going to the U of S pursuing my diploma in Agribusiness and working at the farm spring and fall. Then in the spring of 2022 I completed my diploma and graduated. It was almost the end of summer a job came up as Sales Administrator at Pattison Agriculture. I looked into it more and thought it was a job I could really excel at and applied. I soon had got the job and was very excited to start working!

Through all of this I’d like to thank SCI Sask for the support. From having someone come see me while in rehab (who later got me into water skiing) to securing some funding to go to school and get my diploma. Having someone call periodically and answer or try to track down the answer for any questions I may have was a big help along the way to get me to where I am now.

You can read Orrie’s full story in our FALL 2022 PARASCAOPE Magazine, pg. 7.