A Colorado tree employee miraculously survived a freak accident with a wooden chipper that left him dropping each legs minutes into his first day on the job.
John O’Neill, 33, fitted with a court-ordered ankle monitor, was throwing tree branches into the machine when one caught the monitoring gadget and dragged him into the chipper, in line with the Denver Submit.
O’Neill, who had battled dependancy and is now sober and enthusiastic about his new job, had each legs amputated above his knee following the life-altering accident at 10:18 a.m. on Sept. 24.
“It’s past a miracle that John remains to be with us, and he’s preventing more durable than ever,” O’Neill’s good friend George Safir wrote on GoFundMe. “Our good friend has at all times been fairly reckless and residing life on the sting! All whereas doing so, being a warrior in life.”
Solely quarter-hour into the workday in Longmont, O’Neill grabbed a fish hook-shaped department and threw it into the machine.
The tip of the department caught onto O’Neil’s ankle monitor and dragged his leg into the spinning blades the place it started slicing into his toes, foot, ankle and legs.
None of O’Neill’s coworkers instantly heard his cries for assist as they have been all sporting ear safety.
“It took a minute earlier than my coworkers realized what was taking place,” O’Neill informed the outlet.
Because the machine continued to eat into him, O’Neill started believing his time was ending.
“One thing occurred in my mind to the place I spotted I used to be in concern for lots extra than simply dropping my leg or my foot,” O’Neill mentioned.
“The ache was very — it was not there virtually,” he recalled. “I didn’t actually really feel the ache as a lot as I knew I used to be in hassle. It went from a combat for my limb to a combat for my life, very quick.”
O’Neill described the accident as “one thing that appeared like what you see in motion pictures,” as he noticed pores and skin, bones, muscle and quite a lot of blood popping out of his legs.
O’Neill mentioned remained as calm as potential to maintain his coronary heart fee down.
“I didn’t freak out, I did keep calm,” O’Neill mentioned. “My coworker mentioned I used to be very cognitive all through the entire thing.”
A coworker pulled him out because the blade reached his midthighs and O’Neill grabbed a close-by rope for a makeshift tourniquet.
He light out and in of consciousness however credit his coworkers for maintaining him alive utilizing sternum rubs.
Police arrived on the scene and secured precise tourniquets on the rest of O’Neill’s legs earlier than he was rushed to an area hospital the place he was flown to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, simply exterior of Denver.
Throughout the helicopter trip, O’Neill “technically died,” he informed the outlet, saying his coronary heart stopped.
He “firmly believes” the ankle monitor design is why he couldn’t free himself from the wooden chipper.
Medical doctors amputated the rest of O’Neill’s mangled legs and wanted to provide him 15 pints of blood.
“They basically changed all of the blood in my physique,” he mentioned.
When he awakened in his hospital room the subsequent day, O’Neill known as his mom who was left “in such a panic” she needed to be admitted into the hospital for 3 days, in line with the Denver Submit.
Among the many many individuals and organizations O’Neill has reconnected with throughout his hospitalization is “the Phoniex,” the non-profit that creates “sober occasions and actions” to assist these battling dependancy.
With the non-profit, O’Neill seems to proceed his volunteer work the place he’ll lead mountain climbing and CrossFit occasions with the assistance of adaptive specialists.
“That is uncharted territory and I can’t wait to dive into it as a result of I really feel like life goes to be extra thrilling. I’ve at all times loved a problem,” he mentioned.
O’Neill is “crushing his restoration quicker than anybody,” Safir mentioned. “John has very excessive spirits and is able to get again to some mountain climbing.”
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