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Using a chainsaw May 2004 was our first spring in Wake Forest. My husband Jeff and I were anxious to get our yard in order. Jeff has always been a safety fanatic, sometimes going overboard with his attention to details. We started removing some branches. He tied the ladder to each tree and also tied himself to the ladder. I cautiously held the ladder each time, and I handed him the chain saw. We worked about 2 hours. We were starting to get to get hot and fatigued. Jeff decided to cut one last branch. It was fairly low, about six feet up. He decided that it was within reach on the third rung of the ladder, so he did not secure either the ladder or himself. When he reached to cut the branch, he lost his footing. The ladder went one way, and Jeff went the other. I watched him fall in slow motion – or so it seemed. He was sure he had broken his leg. When I saw blood on the chain saw, I knew it was more than a broken bone. Sure enough the chain saw had cut through his thumb right to the bone. After a frantic trip to the emergency room, surgery and hospitalization were required. He ended up with a fractured leg and a tendon/nerve repair on his thumb. JoAnne Klein |
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