What Was Your Worst Accident?

I wasn’t grinding aluminum with a steal disc, there are soft bond wheels for aluminum, won’t clog. I also use aluminum discs on T1. This was a 9” disc on a hand grinder, brand new, defective disc.
 
It's rare but they can blow up. Al just clogs them, I've never done enough al to even know they had dedicated wheels that work for it, might have to grab some for next time. I haven't had a worst accident, few broken fingers i didn't even worry about, cutting wheel on a grinder almost cut a tendon in my knee after it got away from me, few burns, but nothing life altering. I did see my 9 inch grinder get caught in my helpers shirt, cut him pretty good for about a foot diagonally across his chest, not pretty.
 
Three stitches from cutting my wrist with the silky..nicked a vein, never seen blood flow so freely.
Twice knocked off my feet by a branch falling awkwardly, nice high tie in so big pendulum swing, no damage.
 
Shit happens quick don’t it
Had 2 ropes go in chippers in my time and it terrifies me

re aluminum on grinder wheels is it is very “gummy” so fills the voids in the abrasive media so stops the grinding action so just absorbs energy as heat and aluminum expands very quickly so causes stress fractures in wheel

apply wax to said wheel and it won’t gum up and explode. Still makes me turn my head a tad though
 
wow, that is bad. Why catapulted, did something heavy fall on upper boom and then slide off? No harness? Any lingering effects from those injuries or did they fully heal?
 
In 1983 back in the happy days of freeclimbing while harvesting branches for x-mas decorations, which is a big deal here, we export about 1000 tons every year, I fell out of a Noble fir.
Didn't fall that far, really, but landed on a stump that broke my back.
Kept me out of logging for some years and gave me a lot of trouble until some 20 years ago, when all of a sudden, it stopped hurting.
 
lascerated my brachial artery with a saw after gaffing out at about 60ft.

Fractured ribs and knocked out by widow maker in the woods.

Nose broken by spring pole someone else cut 10ft away

Concussed after big uncontrolled swing in canopy.

And some other shit I forget about. As the old saying goes -If your gonna be dumb, you better be tough!"

Bullshit aside, I had very little guidance and tight schedules to keep, so often things went sour due to inexperienced staff and inexperienced climber!
 
Both my tree injuries were probably within 2 years of each other...left gaff went in above right knee when I took a fall without a lanyard...anything below 20 feet or so, in the mid 70's we usually didn't lanyard in. Way back in the N. GA mountains when it happened. The boy driving the evac jeep got it stuck in mud...my buds had to cut a tree to put under the Scout and lift it enough to get it free...then off to get stitches.

Same story a few years later...about 15' up in a big dead oak...decided to go up another 2-3 feet to be able to get lanyard above the first limb. Spur kicked out (tree was probably 4' diameter at least)...hugged the tree to about 10 feet when a big bole kicked me away from the trunk. Broke a wrist there...didn't know for sure. Went back up and tried to cut first limb...right hand didn't work right. Spent most of the day suffering under bushes, had trouble driving my Fiat 124 Sport Coupe home (4 speed). Showed my dad..he was an x-ray tech. Went to hospital...yep, navicular fracture...3 months in a cast. Good news was I got to drop Accounting 101...hated that class.

I always lanyard in now...1 foot off the ground...lanyard is around the tree...idjit for a long time. Don't be an idjit.
 
Took a 2 story ride off a roof landed flat on my back. It was winter so many layers of clothes. Nothing broke. Some pain killers and back to work 3 days later.

Stig, you need to wrapped in bubble wrap!
 
Friend of mine with a body shop liked 4 1/2" grinding without the wheel shield. After about 20 years of this, statistics kicked in and a wheel broke and he lost an eye. Eye was still there, had internal damage, at first saw some grey shades, hoped for recovery but then it went south. I went to his supplier to buy paint for my truck, mentioned him and the eye, and the supplier said he saw the friend drop a box of grinder discs he just bought on the sidewalk and thought that was the cause. Could be true. I respect discs more now.

All of my visits to the bone ward have been motorcycle related with a great subsidence in recent years and I intend to keep it that way. Nothing more than hand saw cuts and one close call with a glove being pulled into the bar cause I was in a hurry and didn't wait long enough for the chain to stop. Lesson: not those gloves anymore and Nothing makes me rush. Although one handsaw cut I got a splinter stuck in from the inside of the flesh flap poking outward. Bit of squeamishness on getting that one rectified, picking the splinter out. Didn't hurt because the nerves were cut.

Years ago I wasn't as much of a chain brake snapper as I am now.
 
hella stories about some tough and lucky customers
 
Tore a tendon clean off my shoulder when reaching up to take slack out of line and a spike kicked out on a silver maple, and I instinctively grabbed the rope. Right shoulder already had a torn tendon due to a bad mountain bike fall (supraspinatus and infraspinatus). After that I couldn't raise my right arm and already had a biceps tendon injury to boot . Had the shoulder rebuilt in 2013, and after a year of PT it has been okay; just some discomfort after a long day of work.

All else was pretty minor as far as work-related. Got rear-ended in 1995 and back got torn up pretty bad - took a few years to get it back to workable; though a few times a year it goes out. Get referred pain in the L4 dermatome after a long day of driving like yesterday :(
 
Tore the service off of a house once way back when.
Silky tap to the forearm.
Took a Fanno mondo to the shin that should have been stitches.
Got clubbed by logs both legs different jobs years apart, huge bruising and swelling.
Nicked a driveway at the Wrigley estate, luckily it was a service road and they didn't care.
Took a shattered drill bit to the forearm, like a bullet, nice little hole.
 
cory said:
wow, that is bad. Why catapulted, did something heavy fall on upper boom and then slide off? No harness? Any lingering effects from those injuries or did they fully heal?
Click to expand...

Not wearing harness - using boom with a short length of 16strand arbormaster to lift log into back of truck. (something I had done dozens of times previously on other jobs).
Was working tired and dehydrated, just wanted to get done and go home. A 100% stupid and preventable incident. Son (14 or 15) saw me get launched when rope broke. He completed his carpentry apprenticeship a couple of years ago, and I think he made a smart career choice.
 
Dermatome... You do not see that word very often. I associate it with referred pain...not sure if that's correct but I remember the diagrams of how the dermatomes work and it seems like that would be how rib pain could actually come from something happening down in the thigh area. I know there have been times when I scratched my thigh and felt the simultaneous sensation somewhere in the middle of my back.
 
During last 30+ years have had wrist broken, and a couple of minor chainsaw nips to left leg, and these two to left arm (careless 1-handing a MS200)
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Fell out of a hedge. Reducing a line of 20ft trees to 10ft. Didnt bother with a climbing line as all I had was 35m one so just using a lanyard. Put it round stem. Took the top and clipped saw on harness and throwing tops behind me. I put my lanyard around a stem I'd cut, cut the next one, put saw on my harness and reached forward to grab the cut branch and leant back into nothing. Landed on a little brick wall and luckily some of the branches. Bruised and embarrassed but no lasting problem. Very silly mistake to make but very hot day and rushing
 
jugged up a rope 110' only to see rope was only on a brach collar with nothing to catch if it blew. We bounced test it first with three people and it was fine. As I got close I realized the danger I was in. Called for a throw line......stayed very still .....set a emergnecy belay....jugged to finish. Cleaned britches and finsihesed job
 
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