Too Close For Comfort

A good friend of mine was injured very badly three weeks ago in a chainsaw accident. It was one of the coldest days of the winter, and he was pinned for several hours under a tree before he was freed, and flown to Evansville for the beginning of his medical help. I spoke to him this week, and he expects to make a good recovery, and he is very glad to be alive. The tree that nailed him was one he had cut, but it was still standing due to vines which tied it to a second tree which he cut. When he cut the second tree, he ended up with the first one on top of him. Both of his legs and several ribs were broken; one bright spot is that no joints were crushed. Here are some excerpts from the local newspaper:

"Man pinned by tree rescued

Victim able to call for help on cell phone, use saw to help rescuers find him

By PAUL LORENZ

paul.lorenz@mcleansborotimesleader.com

McLEANSBORO — A local man pinned by a felled tree was able to use his cell phone — and a chainsaw — to call for help...

....Though severely injured and pinned by the tree, Wheeler was able to get to his cell phone and call for help, Brenner said. A neighbor was among those who came looking for Wheeler, but wasn’t initially able to find him, the sheriff said.

But Wheeler’s chainsaw — still running — was within his reach; the neighbor had Wheeler on the cell phone, and he was able to rev the chainsaw to help rescuers locate him, Brenner said.

“If he couldn’t get to his phone, it’s likely he would have lain there and froze,” the sheriff said." Copied from the McLeansboro Times-Leader.com

Chainsaws and falling trees don't give us much room for error. If you are going to be running a saw, please review the safety rules on the left side of this blog occasionally to refresh your memory, and click on the chainsaw label to view the posts about chainsaw use.