- While clearing a blocked auger at a NSW abattoir in 2021, Dean Spencer was pulled into the machine, suffering catastrophic injuries
- After months in the hospital, the father of three learned to walk with a prosthetic before changing careers to become a fitness and CrossFit coach
- Following the incident, SafeWork NSW prosecuted Hilltop Meats, and Dean now advocates for safer workplaces and resilience after trauma
Here Dean Spencer, 37, NSW, tells his story in his own words.
Hearing my alarm sound, I rubbed my eyes awake.
‘Good morning,’ my wife, Tahnee, then 31, yawned beside me.
It was October 2021 and, working at Hilltop Meats abattoir in Young, NSW, I was up early to travel the 38 minutes from our home in Cootamundra.
After downing brekkie with the kids, Trinity, then 10, Maice, eight, and Ethan, five, I headed off.
My job as a rendering plant supervisor meant I was responsible for overseeing the process of turning the fat, bones, blood and offal into products such as animal feed using an auger.
The machine has a helical screw blade called a ‘flight’ housed in a tube. As the blade rotates, bulk materials get ground up.
Starting my day with mandatory safety checks, I noticed one of the augers was blocked.
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A common issue, usually poking around the feed bin with a pole would clear the blockage.
Turning the auger off at the switch, I climbed on top of the machine, stood on the feed bin and started poking with the stick.
Suddenly, a loud roar fired from the auger.
Then the machine began moving and the left heel of my work boot got caught, knocking me off my feet.
Sucked in with speed, I was fed, legs first, into the meal bin three metres above the factory floor.
It all happened so fast, and before I knew it, I was thigh deep and trapped in the jaws of the machine.
‘Help!’ I screamed over the hum of the auger.
Thankfully, another worker heard my cries and jumped into action.
Turning off the power, they dialled emergency, then Tahnee. She left the kids with her parents before rushing to my side.
‘Try to stay calm, help is on the way,’ the ambulance dispatcher soothed.
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Trapped, I felt warm blood rolling down my legs and splashing in the auger.
I knew it had to be bad.
I’d been sucked in and twisted around to the left, but my leg blocked the door to the bin, stopping the jaws from munching me any further. While I wasn’t in any serious pain, I was losing blood and consciousness quickly.
I’ve broken my legs, I thought.
Handed a rattle gun and spanner to undo the bolts, I began helping rescuers free me.
Horrifyingly, that’s when I saw my left leg was hanging by threads, while my right calf muscle had been ripped off the bone and was dangling around my ankle.
‘My left leg was hanging by threads’
With the initial adrenaline rush easing, the pain kicked in. By the time ambos arrived 45 minutes after the incident, the pain was like lightning strikes through my legs.
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‘You’re lucky your legs blocked the door… it’d be a fatality instead of a rescue,’ a paramedic admitted.
‘Please knock me out,’ I begged as the pain became unbearable.
Then everything went black as I was put into an induced coma.
Coming to 48 hours later, I was in a hospital bed. Looking down at my legs, my heart sank in my chest as I noted the flat sheet where the bump of my lower left leg should be.
By my side, Tahnee squeezed my hand in support. ‘Thank God you’re alive,’ she said gently.
I listened in shock as she explained it took rescuers three hours to release me from the steel blades.
I was airlifted to Canberra Hospital. In theatre, surgeons cleaned my wound, reattached the calf on my right leg, using pins and plates to mend the multiple broken bones. To cover the wound, skin from my upper thigh was grafted across my ankle.
Heartbreakingly, my left leg had been unsalvageable, and surgeons had to amputate below the knee.
As Covid restrictions meant Tahnee needed permission to leave NSW and enter the ACT, my cousin Brooke, who lives in Canberra, came to support me.
Through it all Tahnee was my rock, bouncing between the kids at home and the hospital. When she couldn’t be by my side, she and the kids FaceTimed from home.
‘Dad had an accident at work. The doctors had to take away the broken bits,’ Tahnee explained to them.
‘We miss you, Daddy,’ they said.
Finally, after almost two and a half months in hospital, I was given the green light to continue healing at home, using crutches to get around.
Looked after by Tahnee and doted on by the kids, they brought my meals to the couch and gave me endless cuddles.
Around the six-month mark, I was transferred to a rehab centre in Wagga Wagga, where I focused on rebuilding muscle in my remaining leg and received my prosthetic.
Within two weeks I was taking my first wobbly steps and ready to go home again.
While recovering, I made the decision to flip my career and, after building up my strength, completed a certificate in fitness coaching and CrossFit training, then landed a job at a nearby gym.
Following the accident, SafeWork NSW took the abattoir to court over criminal breaches of the Work Health and Safety Act. Hilltop Meats was fined $750,000 in September 2025 after it pleaded guilty to failing to ensure safe working conditions and exposing staff to a risk of serious injury or death.
It also admitted to failing to conduct a risk assessment of the task of removing blockages in the screw conveyor chute.
Now almost five years since my accident, jogging around the footy field with my kids, now 15, 13 and 10, I’m thankful for every day.
I’m grateful to my family, friends, and the medical staff who helped save me.
A workplace accident stole my leg – it’s a miracle it didn’t take my life too!
