Larry Koester likes to see the lighter side in things. It’s a remarkable trait when you consider what he
has lived through.
On July 5, 1986, the then-31-year-old Koester was driving around his St. Wendel, Indiana, yard in a farm
tractor when he got a little too far off the driveway and the banking collapsed, causing his tractor to
roll.
He was pinned under the tractor, which caught fire as rescue workers and his family tried to pull him
free. By the time he was pulled out, revived by his brother and air-lifted to two separate hospitals by
two different helicopters, doctors told his wife he wouldn’t survive the depressed skull fracture he
sustained, let alone the burns on 42 percent of his body.
But, "by the grace of God," he said, he survived the surgeries, including the amputation of
both of his legs at the knees. By the time he returned home after a four-month hospital stay, he had
lost 80 pounds and went from being 6-foot-3 to 4-foot-8.
When Koester first returned home he battled depression.
One day, an encounter with his then 3-year-old daughter, Ashley, forever changed his life and made him
the person he is today.
Koester’s wife, Coral, was going to the grocery store and asked Larry to keep an eye on Ashley. After she
left, Ashley called for her dad to come to her room. Larry tried to climb into his chair, but said he
was too weak, so he crawled to Ashley’s room.
"When I got back there I had tears rolling down my face because I was just upset with myself,"
Larry said. "She looked at me and walked across the room and put her arms around my neck and says,
‘don’t cry daddy. I love you even without your legs.’
"For all the things that people were saying to me, nothing was registering until that little baby
told me she needed a daddy."
Koester got back to work and became more active in doing tractor pulls. He said that he competed in a few
prior to his accident, but only on the local level. He jokes that the accident made him a better driver
because he doesn’t have the extra weight or his feet in the way.
In 1995, after a few years of competing in pulls nationally, the Northwest Ohio Tractor Pullers
Association asked Koester if he would like to be the association’s spokesperson for the Make-a-Wish
Foundation, which will bring kids out to the National Tractor Pulling Championships so they can watch
interact with some of the drivers.
Koester happily accepted, calling it "the greatest honor anyone could ever get." He would spend
time with the kids and got them more involved and, conversely, got more pullers to be involved with the
kids.
"The kids, I relate with them, or they relate with me. Maybe it’s because I’m in a chair and they
understand," Koester said. "Maybe we just understand each other. It’s been a very awesome
relationship."
In his first year working with Make a Wish, Koester helped raised $12,500. This past year, he helped
raise $106,000.
"It’s come so far from a very small thing and now we’re getting a lot more wishes granted," he
said. "The people here in Bowling Green, the fans, they’ve gotten more involved, or else you can’t
raise that kind of money. I think that just bringing them out here, letting those kids touch a few of
these people’s hearts, people are very good about helping people."
Koester has become even more involved in tractor pulls thanks to a sponsorship with Shell/Pennzoil, which
he’s had since 1998. The affiliation has allowed Koester opportunities to get out and meet people, speak
at high schools and corporate events to share his story so he can hopefully help people who are going
through similar problems that he once experienced.
Even with his busy schedule, Koester is always making sure to take things lightly. He named his mini
modified tractor "Footloose" because it "keeps the higher side of a bad situation."
On that back of his tractor is a phrase that reads, "You don’t need feet to kick butt."
The pulls, which Koester estimates he competes in about 30 per year, have become family affairs. His son,
Adam, also drives a mini modified on his Shell team, and is responsible for building their engines.
Koester’s daughter, Ashley, is an announcer for the TV station that broadcasts the pulls.
"It’s been a lot of family, because even your competitors are like our family," Coral said.
"We’re like family off the track, but competitors on it."
While his life was once in a dark place, Koester is happy with where life has taken him. He loves
spending time with the Make-a-Wish kids and he loves meeting new people. It’s all been possible because
of that simple message from his daughter nearly 30 years ago.
"You wonder why things happen," Koester said. "If you keep a positive attitude you find
out."