Safety Issues = Power Tools

[Johnny]

now that the smoke has cleared and Hurricane Irma has passed, it is time I get caught up with you . . . . .

On Sept. 3rd, I was cutting a piece of cherry wood on my table saw. about 2"x2"x6". not big wood, but heavy.
I don't know what happened, but, it somehow got caught on the saw blade and it kicked back into my face.......
I have had many kickbacks before in my lifetime but they always hit the mid torso with little or no damage to the ole bod......
anyway, as luck would have it, it hit me flat sided and vertical right across the left side of my face with the force of
a line drive from a major league slugger.
well . . . it dropped me to the ground right then and there !!! like having a #9 wood swung by Arnold Palmer
right across the left cheek and nose ...... dang it HURT !!!
anyway, I grabbed my tshirt and got the bleeding under control, staggered to the bathroom to check the damage
whoooooaaaaaa NOT GOOD !!!! No bueno at ALL.
got my wallet, phone and a clean tshirt to take with me and dialed 911. it took quite awhile to get the
bleeding under control and the trauma surgeon in the ER put me to sleep right away to reset my broken nose
and sew it up (32 stitches) and then run me through the CAT scanner. The scan showed I had a "slight" concussion
and fluid on the brain as well as several facial fractures and broken jaw. Spent the next 3 days in Intensive Care
then the following 4 days in "elevated care" until the swelling went down and I was somewhat mobile on my own.
my left eye looked like an over ripe plum for a few days but is very okay now. all the swelling
is gone and my vision (by the Grace of God) is back to “somewhat” normal.
I saw the plastic surgeon yesterday to discuss the options to fix the fractures.
that will be pretty straight forward with some screws and pins.....
The surgery will be next Monday afternoon, Oct. 2nd. then back home on Tuesday.

My wife was at work when this fiasco happened and I could not get in touch with her......
she came home and found the house unlocked, my car there and me gone....
then she saw huge puddle of blood at the table saw and panicked - she went to the neighbor -
he calmed her down and went to find me, he saw the table say, blood and me gone . . . . Then HE panicked . . .
He called the ER and found me, he took my wife to the hospital and all was okay once she knew I wasn't dead or missing
a hand or two. (or worse).
I asked the nurse to snap me a few pics with my stupid phone to document what NOT TO DO with a power tool !!!!
I can't find my safety glasses around the table saw - I can't remember if I even had them on or not.
I have a vague blurry memory of wrapping them up in my bloody tshirt but that was tossed at the ER.
the attending trauma doctor told me not to operate ANYthing more powerful than a battery powered toothbrush
for the next 6 months !!! hahahahhhaaa like I'm gonna listen to that.
and again - YEESSSSSS - I AM OKAY NOW !!!!

Now, for problem #2.
I will have repair/reconstructive surgery Monday to address the facial fractures with screws, pins, etc . . .
and my jaw will be reset and wired shut for possibly up to 6 weeks. (more or less).
I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos about eating nothing but liquids through a straw with this issue.
NOT gonna be a fun trip, that’s for sure.
Besides the blender and protein shakes, any of you have any good advice of how to survive with your teeth wired shut ??
Oh, this morning I woke up with a “floater” in my left eye that appears to be the size of a 6/0 circle hook…..
I guess the eye doctor will address that one In a couple of weeks. (or it may dissolve on its own).
I asked the plastics doctor to get me some copies of the cat scan of my broken face so I can share the journey with you……
Remember - - - any bad day on the water beats any good day in the ICU all to pieces !!!!
Thank you all in advance for your thoughts and prayers - - -
my overall vision is fairly good now, but, I get headaches from too much glare from a computer screen or TV.
the fluid on the brain is gone and the concussion did not cause any permnt - permen - parmnt - premant - permanent drain bamage (LOL).
But, will check in now and then with updates.
and no matter how experienced you "think" you are with power tools, and how many safety parameters you have in place - - - accidents DO HAPPEN !!







as far as Hurricane Irima, I only lost a few tree limbs,
no shingles off the roof and no windows broken.
slept right through the 140mph blow that came down my street.
with the facial trauma, I forgot to roll up the windows in my van
and it is quite a mess inside - but should clean up okay with some
fresh sunshine and a bottle or two of Febreeze.



.

 

[SeaFaring]

I’m glad to hear that you’re on the mend. That sounds awful.

Good luck with your more complete recovery.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jim]

Jesus Johnny! Holy cow! :shock:

Glad you came out of this one.

 

[FormerParatrooper]

Hope all works out well and my prayers and best wishes are with you and your family.

Amazing how the simple things we have always done sometimes comes to get us. At work, even on jobs when I am working alone, I always go over the safety before starting. It is a good habit for all of us.

 

[nccatfisher]

Glad you are on the mend. I like you have had numerous body shots from a table saw, all hurt, left bruises and some even drew blood. None to the head, I often wondered what would have happened if I was bent down looking at a line etc to follow. Now I know. It is amazing the force they propel stuff.

 

[DaleH]

OMG ... GLAD you are OK! Holy cow I too had a case of the heebie jeebies reading through your ordeal! Could feel my fingers and toes (and the other most important member ....) trying to retract further and further into my body.

Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery! I'm happy for your loved ones and family and for us too ... (your cyberspace 'tin boat' family) that you are still with us and have your eyesight!

You lesson reminds me of Day #1 in GE's apprentice machine shop school, a 3-1/2 year program, as said by the lead instructor:

Step 1 - Look at your hands and count your thumbs and toes

Step 2 - Keep in mind that the CUT OFF tools work significantly better than the ADD ON tools

Step 3 - Keep Steps 1 & 2 always at the front of your mind for anything you'll do here over the next 3-4 years

Step 4 - It is your job to leave here with the same amount of digits as reported in Step 1

 

[KMixson]

Dang it! That hurt just reading about what happened. You were lucky to have been coherent enough after that incident to be able to call for help. Glad to hear you are mending well. People do not realize how much blood can come out of their head until it happens to them. I hope you are able to get over this with no lasting effects. God Bless.

 

[gnappi]

Jeez, I'm wearing my motorcycle helmet from now on when I use tools

Seriously, even without a tool in your hand you can gt whacked. I was cleaning up my back yard after the cane passed and pulled a grape vine and the SOB tore loose and whacked my right eye so hard the eyeball hurt for a week. The ONE time in my adult life I wasn't wearing safety glasses too.

We were taught in the Navy if you have a tool in your hand, you MUST wear safety glasses / goggles. If you were caught they could court martial you! Maybe they would, maybe not but for sure it led to a lifetime use of eye protection. It amazes me storm reporters generally don't use eye protection.

I'm glad to hear you are coming out of it OK.

 

[BillPlayfoot]

Wow !!
Glad you are on the mend

 

[stinkfoot]

That's heavy stuff, cherry. I know at least three people minus a ring finger thanks to table saws. Glad you are on the mend.

 

[Drock]

That was a close call all things considered must have scared your dear wife something terrible. I'm glad you are on the mend.
Likely you're detailed description of the event alone with the pictures will instill safety habits to save someone a like fate. You got my attention.

Hope the healing goes well.

 

[Rumblejohn]

Sorry it happened, but glad it wasn't worse.

Get well soon

 

[CedarRiverScooter]

Thanks for sharing the story so we can all avoid a similar calamity.

I hope you get back to 100% soon.

During safety classes they stressed staying out on the 'line of fire'. So now I make sure that the grinder rotation is not going to fling something at me.

 

[LDUBS]

Man, oh man. Johnny I am happy to see you recovering and hope you are 100% back in the saddle real soon.

I was literal just chiding my daughter's fiancee about using a table saw and telling him to understand kick back before he even plugs it in.

 

[richg99]

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny....Ouch. I can only imagine what getting whacked in the head with a big chunk of heavy cherry must have felt like.

You are lucky it hit you flat. I am not sure that safety glasses would have helped if the wood would have been coming at you end over end.

Only had one tiny similar experience and that was ten years or so ago. I was cutting a 12 x 12 piece of 1/4 plywood and I failed to let the piece completely clear the spinning blade. Sure enough, she came back at me like a flying saucer. Broke my index finger. I looked at it in pure terror, (sticking straight up); grabbed it and pushed it back where it was formerly. When the ortho-doc looked at it, he asked: "who set it"? I said "I guess it was me". He gave me his card and said to look him up when I want to go into practice. Ha Ha

You actually look a lot better in your four-week shot than I expected. You must heal pretty fast. Get well, get better, get back to doing things ...safely.

Thanks for sharing. These sorts of reports may save someone else from a costly mistake.

richg99

 

[WiskeyJaR]

Glad you survived your battle with the wood, but remember.....chicks dig scars...lol

 

[Stumpalump]

I got hit in the pelvic bone so hard I thought it was broken. Who would think a table saw could generate those kind of forces? The right shot could kill a man and probably has. Over a decade ago I found a witches finger from a holloween costume. That chopped off finger got zipped tied to the table saw plug and is the last thing that goes thru my mind as I plug that bastard in. Get well soon.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

I'm glad your ok.
Power tool can be very dangerous. My dad is 85 and done wood working most of his life I can't count the number of cuts and injuries he has had. He does still have all of is fingers.

 

[.Mike]

Brutal. I hope you heal completely!

I took two years of shop class in junior high school. There was a table saw in the workshop that students weren't allowed to touch. About 15 feet behind the table saw, there was a chunk of wood, maybe 3/4" square, sticking about 6" out from the cinder block wall. The teacher used it as a teaching point about the unforgiving nature of power tools. It worked.

About 2 years ago, I bought a nice DeWalt table saw from Home Depot at a steal of a price. Posts like these are the reason why it is sitting on a shelf, untouched, still in its original packaging.

Get better!

 

[Johnny]

Thank you all for your input, thoughts, prayers and good wishes.
I am 70 years old and have been around and used hand and power tools
since I was 8 years old. I have several scars from all kinds of mishaps
with tools. But this one !!! wow - it really cleaned my clock !!!
usually, a person can see an object coming towards the eye and has that nano second
to at least close the eye, blink or flinch.
I did not see it coming - I never saw the chunk of wood leave the saw.
I did not hear the wood bind in the blade.
I can not believe just how fast this happened and with what force it hit me with.
Leaving now for the hospital - surgery at 3:00 pm for a hand full of screws and pins
to put my face bones back together and the teeth will be wired together for about 6 weeks
to realign the broken jaw. So I will be out of service and among the walking wounded for a spell.
thank you all again for your prayers.
Fair Winds and Following Seas, and as Arnold says - - - I'll be back.
Johnny



.