Bill Fortin says his memory of that day six years ago is "like it happened yesterday." The Danville, Iowa, farmer lay face down in the gravel outside the hog barn, unable to lift his head. "I was vividly aware of everything, but I couldn't move," Fortin says. "I had a metallic taste in my mouth, but I couldn't smell anything. I wondered if it was the end." Fortin had been emptying the pit under the barn - something he had done 50 times in 25 years without incident. He left the barn after starting thepit agitator. But when he heard the hogs squealing, he hurried back in. He saw several dead hogs, foaming at the mouth. Suddenly he felt dizzy. He took off, running and stumbling, toward the open side curtains. Diving over the 2-foot cement wall, he landed outside on his stomach, knocking the breath out of him. "I had to get out," he says. "I didn't want anybody to find me there. Whether I died or not, I didn't want my two sons, my wife, or anybody else to try to help me and be overcome like I was."
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