wolfpack gathering

[nell67]

Yeah, it was. No brake. Mine.

YIKES,that had to hurt

[Rick]

Actually, no. Burned a little but not much pain.

I have worked with chain saws forever. Worked tree crew for a bit back when my company actually did that and we carried chain saws on the line trucks. Been through the safety courses and all that jazz.

So I have this little maple tree in the front yard I decided to get rid of and replace it with a dogwood. My wife is yacking about no reason to cut the tree down. yadda yadda. Yes, dear. I go get the saw. Bzzzzz. Chainsaw comes out and down comes the tree. I trim up the brush and I'm down to the very last cut. Last cut! Just a touch to remove a tiny limb and that thing kicked back and the chain smacked me in the face, ran down by neck into my chest where the engine died. My shirt actually killed the engine. Kicked like a mule. I have never been hit in the face that hard.

It takes a couple of seconds for the lights to stop flickering and me to figure out what had just happened. The saw is jammed to my chest (muffler side out, thank goodness) and I grab my neck with my free hand to check on how much blood is spurting. Lots of blood. Lots and lots of blood but I didn't strike oil so I'm okay. Do a quicky triage and see I'm gonna live so off comes the shirt and the saw. Not a pretty picture at this point but could have been worse.

I walk over to the front door, which is open.

"Dear," says I. "Can you come here a minute?"
"I'm busy," she says.
Of course. She would be.
"But I really do need you to come here."
"I said I'm busy. You come inside."
"Well, I can't because of the blood."
That caught her attention. So she's walking down the hall to the door, sees the shape I'm in and starts chewin' me out about cutting down the tree. I just stand there and listen, still bleeding mind you, until she finishes.

"Yes, dear. You're right. Now, if you're done chewin' me out can you drive me to the emergency room?" (I might add she's an RN so she knew I wasn't dieing.)

Several hours later and a lot of stitches later I was cleaning up the debris left from the tree and even attended my MBA class that night.

The worst part (beyond the initial kick) was the shots to put my cheek back together. Filleted. Nice and clean, too. Great surgeon. Lady. While she sewed me up she chewed me out for not listening to my wife. Women 2, chain saw 1, Twinkie -3.

All in all turned out okay. Needless to say, that saw disappeared and one with a brake is now in my garage.

No man will ever hit me as hard as that saw did but I still stood. Kinda proud of that. Ar, ar, ar, as Tim the Toolman would say.

[AdventureDoc]

That is a horrible story! I did enjoy reading it, though. Thanks for sharing Rick...I always love a story when the person (victim) is injured and tries to play it cool, like they should. Then, when they seek help, that person reacts in a way that is NOT expected. Haha! That was good. Glad you are OK!

[Rick]

It wasn't all that bad, really. Could have been a whole lot worse and I'm sure others on here have gone through worse. Now, it's just a funny story to me. Once I figured out I hadn't done any major damage it was kinda funny as it unfolded. Especially when my wife started chewing me out.

[nell67]

Oh no Rick,I agree with AdventureDoc! You are lucky thats for sure,it could have been soooo much worse.

[Proud American]

Apon reading the story I agree It could have been much worse. Also Im in virtualy the same boat as Assasin, Under 18 and i doubt my parents will let me travel all the way to Canada to spend a week with people ive never met. To bad though sounds like fun! Ill follow the thread though just in case. I want pictures and stories from this trip that a million to one im not goin on.<sigh!>

[Rick]

Invite them along. Here's a chance for dad and son to do something adventurous (sorry dad).

[Assassin Pilot]

Great and interesting story. I don't mess w/ chainsaws often, I enjoy using an ax (mor exercise)

I suppose my worst one would be when I was seeing how fast I could drive a motorcycle on a dirt road in Finland (this was before I was of legal age). When I fell, I was in the middle of nowhere so I had to drive to my grandpa's house (closest house I knew), before I was driven to the emergency room. That was pretty damn hard. I had to pick up the motorcycle and ride with blood dripping all over (the bike rolled after I fell and didn't hit anything, so it was drivable). My grandpa was out fishing his girlfriend drove me to the hospital. But I was cleaned up pretty well, and they just assumed I was of legal age at the hospital so I didn't get in any trouble (In Finland the government pays for it if you are under 18, so they don't have you sign any papers or anything besides stating you are under 18).

[Kemperor]

I'm not too fond of using chainsaws either. I'd rather use a regular handsaw, if the tree's small enough, or one of those two people saws for bigger trees. Granted it takes longer, but it's generally safer.

After I cut my leg with my machete, I knew it wasn't serious, and my buddy is an EMT and also in the Army, going to Iraq soon, and came and made sure everything was alright. I had already cleaned it up with my first aid kit and gauzed it and everything. I could've used a couple stitches in a couple of places. My girlfriend at the time scolded the **** out of me and everything. I laughed about it the entire time and it was pretty funny. If you can't laugh at your own stupidity or, in Rick's case, accidental misfortunes, you have no room to laugh at anyone else's.

[Kemperor]

Whoa, they automatically edit the posts. I didn't even realize that I used that word until I saw the asterisks! Oops! Sorry kids.

[marberry]

all right , i now have a car and a license so as long as its in Canada (and not too far) i can go ^_^ so whats the situation concerning the meeting ? approximate date and location yet or is it still in the why dont we stage?

[chopp29]

So is this a wolfpack only gathering? If so how do u become a memeber of the wolfpack? Remeber Im a newbie to this forum.....

[nell67]

chopp,you became a member of the wolfpack when you joined the forum.

[nell67]

all right , i now have a car and a license so as long as its in Canada (and not too far) i can go ^_^ so whats the situation concerning the meeting ? approximate date and location yet or is it still in the why dont we stage?

marcraft,it's at wareagles place in Ontario,Sept.11,12,13,and 14

[Sam]

So Rick, by blood you mean cream filling.

[Rick]

Sam! I was injured! Hurt! And yet you still poke fun at my near death experience? You're my kind of guy.

[marberry]

where is wareagles place? , i thought he lives completely off the grid/

[Catfish]

chopp,you became a member of the wolfpack when you joined the forum.

When do you plan to tell him about the uh...initiation ceremony?

[canid]

it's a Saguaro sitting contest. the rest of us get to shoot at you with blogun darts tipped with mescal bean toxin. we time how long you can stay up there before the dizzyness and dehydration get to you.

[wareagle69]

ok folks march first so it's seven and a half months not allot of time you guys need to start your passports, i have one confirmed survival expert for the gathering, i am working on les stroud, i will also need a couple of you to volunteer for some duties such as scheduling, this event will be free range do as you want but we will have some clinics and competitions, by may i will need people to start confirming there attendance to this historic and most likely notorious event.

always be prepared