Agricultural accident news
28/11/2007
Farmer saws off arm with penknife

A farmer from the United States could be in a position to make an agricultural accident claim for personal injury compensation after he had to hack off his own arm with a penknife.

The South Carolina man was clearing a trapped corn stalk from the blades of a combine harvester when his glove became trapped, leaving him unable to free his hand. He managed to wedge a metal pole into the contraption to jam the moving parts and so set about cutting his gloves free.

But, as he began to hack at the material, disaster struck.

A spark from the combine ignited some dry crops underneath the machine and a fire began, quickly spreading towards the fuel tank.

The farmer realised that he needed to free himself, and quickly, and so decided he had no choice but to saw through his arm before the fire engulfed him.

Gritting his teeth, he hacked at the flesh of his arm with the penknife, cutting through muscle, skin and sinew, until he had reached the bone.

He then dropped to the ground, using his bodyweight to snap the bone clean in two, and was able to stagger from the combine harvester only seconds before it exploded in a ball of flame.

He stumbled to a nearby road and was able to flag down a passing car that, luckily, was being driven by a fireman with paramedic training. The tattered stump was wrapped up to stop the bleeding and then the distraught farmer was rushed to hospital where surgeons operated to clean up the wound.

Talking to journalists, the South Carolina man described the horrific farming accident, saying: "I could feel the nerves as I was cutting my arm off.

"I just told myself, I'm not going to die here. I just kept fighting, kept praying. And then when I did get loose, I jumped up running, I had blood squirting from my arm. It was pretty scary there for a while."

It is not yet known if the farmer is planning to consult a personal injury lawyer to help him make an agricultural accident compensation claim.