Armless farmer who became YouTube star dies of aneurysm at 52 while being treated for cancer

An armless Ohio farmer who became a YouTube star for controlling machines with his feet has died of an aneurysm at age 52.

Thomas Andrew “Andy” Detwiler, of Urbana, near Columbus, died Sept. 21 after suffering an aneurysm after contracting pneumonia. He was also treated for esophageal cancer.

His wife Corkey said in an emotional farewell video that she noticed Andy “started to breathe funny” the day before he died.

The next day, the couple went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and had low sugar levels.

After the medical staff were able to equalize it, he said he started to feel better, according to Corkey, but then sat up and gasped from the pain.

“He couldn’t catch his breath, he looked at me terrified,” Corkey said in the video. “He couldn’t talk.”

They were supposed to intubate him and had plans to send him to a hospital in Springfield, but he “crashed” before they could load him into the ambulance.

“He died in Urbana,” Corkey said in a voice full of emotion. Despite Detwiler’s missing arms—which were lost in a farming accident in his childhood—he didn’t let his disability hold him back.

The farmer, who had a large YouTube following, inspired thousands by learning to shoot a gun, drive a tractor and feed animals without arms.

Andy lost his arms on July 18, 1972, when he was two. His grandfather, Bick Detwiler, operated a grain mortar and regularly reached back to the mortar to test the wheat for moisture.

The farmer, who had been watching, decided to imitate his grandfather and when he went to put his hand in the drill, he fell into the spiral drill.

By the time his grandfather was able to pull him out, Andy’s arms had been amputated.

After five long weeks in the hospital, the young boy survived, eventually growing up and having his own daughter, Kylie, who was often featured in his YouTube videos.

His mother, Patricia, once recalled the moment she knew young Andy would manage without his arms, when he covered himself with a blanket using his toes to grip the fabric and fold it up to reveal himself. to cover.

“It landed on him perfectly,” she said in a 2019 YouTube video. “From that moment on, I knew he was going to be okay.”

Andy stayed with the family business and would run his own 300-acre tract of corn and soybean fields.

He would also learn to build his own farm equipment, loosen screws, paint antique farm equipment, operate a snow plow and much more – all of which he did while filming for his channel.

In his youth, a local newspaper even did a spotlight article about him showing that he was doing a test by holding a clipboard in one foot and a writing implement in the other foot.

“The blue-eyed boy with the mischievous grin leads an active, happy life with the support of understanding parents who refuse to coddle him,” the Spring News-Sun wrote when he was seven.

“Growing up, there was no one to teach me because no one knew anyone who looked like me,” he said in a YouTube video. “I taught myself pretty much everything.”

The farmer inspired many, including other farming families who suffered from cancer.

“Andy, I let my daughter watch your videos. She is fighting cancer and has had many battles. I told her she can conquer anything if she sets her mind to it,” one viewer wrote on one of his videos.

Andy’s family will not hold a traditional funeral for him, as his wife said he didn’t want to be in a funeral home.

“Andy and I had talked about different things about the time he died. No funeral homes, no hearse, anything like that,” Corkey said in the farewell video.

While they’re still deciding where they want it, they’re considering hosting it on the family farm, which they’ve owned since 1904.

“I just want it on the farm,” Corkey said. “He went there every day, he loved it.”

Corkey and Andy met in 1992 after he stood outside her door at 2 a.m. and yelled from the porch that he wanted to date her. They would marry four years later.

In 2018, he started making videos in hopes of earning some extra cash. His following would later grow to 130,000 and he reportedly read every comment.

They also thanked all of Andy’s YouTube fans for the “outpouring of support.”

“We can’t thank you enough,” the family said in a farewell video.