- Thread starter chuk
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Drains
Yeah, nah.
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Drainetta here, as I have been persuaded to term myself by Mr D... hello. He says you might like to hear my thumb story. Somewhere I have a photo that I will dig out which rivals Ratty's one for goriness.
When I was a young lass, I worked on an organic farm which used horses as traction. Being someone brought up with horses, this was a great place to be. In the latter part of the first summer I was there, we were in the process of hay making using a horse-drawn tedder to turn the hay after it was cut and partially dried. I had that job which was a lot of fun as it could be done at some speed - a pair of fit, lithe horses (you don't need heavy horses for a job like this) pulling the hay turner like a chariot round the field! We (me and my team of fine arab mares) had just completed an afternoon's tedding and were heading for home when I relaxed and dropped the rein a little. It got dragged in to the tedding mechanism on which I was sitting and in the process ripped off my thumb - the rein was around it and literally pulled it off at high speed.
As the rein tightened, the horses panicked but quickly came to a halt as one of them by this time had her neck and head dragged to one side. Whilst they were panicking, I realised there was no way for me to escape as there was a pair of panicky horses to the front, big wheels to the side and the spikey tedding machinery to my rear. In that unreal time of accidents, everything slowed down. I didn't panic, being well trained since birth never to do so whilst working with horses. When they did grind to a halt, I jumped off and then noticed there was something wrong with my hand... I looked at it and could see that the thumb was missing. I twisted my hand and found my thumb, dangling by a thread of skin at the back...
I had been well trained in first aid and knew that a severed limb / body part had more chance of reconnection if you stuck the two bits back together, which I did and then elevated my hand above my heart which meant shoving my hand in to my overall straps.
Then I faced the challenge of unharnessing the horses, a four handed job normally - one person to hold the two horses still and the other person to unbuckle all the straps. There was I, one-handed and with a horse that had its neck twisted to one side with no help in sight. I couldn't leave them so I had no choice but to undertake something very dangerous. The horses stood stock still until I released them - if they had chosen to move whilst I was doing so, it would have been catastrophic for them and me. I guess they knew they had to trust me implicitly.
At this stage I felt no pain but I was covered in blood. I had to walk back across the fields to get help and was taken to hospital where I endured a long operation to repair the damage. Like Ratty, I was skanky and had filthy hands. In fact, the nurses would not let me wear my own clothes when they released me, sending me home in a track suit donated to the hospital!
So there we go - the thumb tale! Clo x
When I was a young lass, I worked on an organic farm which used horses as traction. Being someone brought up with horses, this was a great place to be. In the latter part of the first summer I was there, we were in the process of hay making using a horse-drawn tedder to turn the hay after it was cut and partially dried. I had that job which was a lot of fun as it could be done at some speed - a pair of fit, lithe horses (you don't need heavy horses for a job like this) pulling the hay turner like a chariot round the field! We (me and my team of fine arab mares) had just completed an afternoon's tedding and were heading for home when I relaxed and dropped the rein a little. It got dragged in to the tedding mechanism on which I was sitting and in the process ripped off my thumb - the rein was around it and literally pulled it off at high speed.
As the rein tightened, the horses panicked but quickly came to a halt as one of them by this time had her neck and head dragged to one side. Whilst they were panicking, I realised there was no way for me to escape as there was a pair of panicky horses to the front, big wheels to the side and the spikey tedding machinery to my rear. In that unreal time of accidents, everything slowed down. I didn't panic, being well trained since birth never to do so whilst working with horses. When they did grind to a halt, I jumped off and then noticed there was something wrong with my hand... I looked at it and could see that the thumb was missing. I twisted my hand and found my thumb, dangling by a thread of skin at the back...
I had been well trained in first aid and knew that a severed limb / body part had more chance of reconnection if you stuck the two bits back together, which I did and then elevated my hand above my heart which meant shoving my hand in to my overall straps.
Then I faced the challenge of unharnessing the horses, a four handed job normally - one person to hold the two horses still and the other person to unbuckle all the straps. There was I, one-handed and with a horse that had its neck twisted to one side with no help in sight. I couldn't leave them so I had no choice but to undertake something very dangerous. The horses stood stock still until I released them - if they had chosen to move whilst I was doing so, it would have been catastrophic for them and me. I guess they knew they had to trust me implicitly.
At this stage I felt no pain but I was covered in blood. I had to walk back across the fields to get help and was taken to hospital where I endured a long operation to repair the damage. Like Ratty, I was skanky and had filthy hands. In fact, the nurses would not let me wear my own clothes when they released me, sending me home in a track suit donated to the hospital!
So there we go - the thumb tale! Clo x
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Love the story!
BTW - Hows the hand Ratts?
BTW - Hows the hand Ratts?
Ratty
Putting the She in Sheds
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- 1,775
Loved the story too Drainetta! Much more gory than mine - amazing what you can do when you have to. More sense than a friend who cut his thumb off in a circular saw and carefully wrapped it in tissues and kept it warm "Like a baby bird". Needless to say it was quite dead by the time he got to hospital.
Thanks for asking Paulie...not so great, went to have the stitches out on Monday, seriously grumpy nurse undid 6 before remarking that the skin hadn't actually knitted back together on the palm side, I asked her to leave the last two and also asked what all the nasty pimples were on my two fingers, like tiny bumps below the skin. 'Humph just a bit of dry skin' I made her look again and finally she agreed to let me see the doctor. Secondary infection. Hoobloodyray. Back on the antibiotics, very sore & stiff fingers, hot & sore hand which I daren't hardly move now for fear of it all opening up and feel pretty depressed with it all.
What's the betting I still have a piece of knife embedded in my hand) The up side? my fingers are all clean and pink again having sat and scraped all the dead black-ingrained skin off during one moment of deep boredom.
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I have to say that registered even higher on the 'sphincter scale' than Ratty's mishap! I was ok til I read the bit about it dangling then I felt a little strange. Bloomin' horses eh? So far my wife's broken both arms, dislocated an elbow and broken an ankle all in seperate accidents and she wonders why I won't ride him 
.Oh and not to mention the bites she comes home with!! One day pinky and perky were quite happily fighting under a blanket until 'George' decided he was upset and pinky nearly lost his nose!! That really made me cringe!
.Oh and not to mention the bites she comes home with!! One day pinky and perky were quite happily fighting under a blanket until 'George' decided he was upset and pinky nearly lost his nose!! That really made me cringe!
Haze
is it can be hugs tiem ?
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- 638
sliced myself on the hand with a 4" stone cutting disc yesterday, tiny cut, half inch long but quite wide and suprisingly deep, not a problem really but you should have seen the amount of claret that came out, when you can see blood actually squirting from your body it makes you a little uneasy.
Rusty
Member
- Messages
- 600
Used to make fencing panels using an air staple gun with 28mm heavy duty staples,tried to re-fix a shelf in an old kitchen unit (hardboard ends),lined up the shelf,gun on the outside,fired through the hardboard missing the shelf and the staple shot up under my finger nail 25mm of it !!
Another time the gun got jammed so I disconnected the air line (safety conscious me
cleared the jammed staple but didn't realise there was a staple in the breach,I was sat down at the time with the gun on my lap,as I connected the air line the gun fired and the staple pinned my jeans to my leg just missing my left nad,PHEW !Wanna seen the bruise.
Another time the gun got jammed so I disconnected the air line (safety conscious me
cleared the jammed staple but didn't realise there was a staple in the breach,I was sat down at the time with the gun on my lap,as I connected the air line the gun fired and the staple pinned my jeans to my leg just missing my left nad,PHEW !Wanna seen the bruise.
shenion
Tool Pack Rat
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- 7,586
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- Stone Mountain, GA USA
I think we have had our fill of gory picturesU,PHEW !Wanna seen the bruise.
bill_gj
Tired and irritable
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- 1,423
- Location
- Essex, UK
Rusty - Lucky Nads, eh?
Did you ever read the Darwin Award story aboot the American redneck that was out 'hunting' with his pals?
Apparently, a fuse blew in his (mandatory) 4WD pickup and he didn't have a spare handy.
Our hero realised that some .22 ammo that he had would fit the fuse holder and dult poked one in.
Whatever, the faulty circuit that had originally blown the fuse proved to be still at fault, it overheated the .22 bullet and it went off, shooting him in the knackers.
Did you ever read the Darwin Award story aboot the American redneck that was out 'hunting' with his pals?
Apparently, a fuse blew in his (mandatory) 4WD pickup and he didn't have a spare handy.
Our hero realised that some .22 ammo that he had would fit the fuse holder and dult poked one in.
Whatever, the faulty circuit that had originally blown the fuse proved to be still at fault, it overheated the .22 bullet and it went off, shooting him in the knackers.
Used to make fencing panels using an air staple gun with 28mm heavy duty staples,tried to re-fix a shelf in an old kitchen unit (hardboard ends),lined up the shelf,gun on the outside,fired through the hardboard missing the shelf and the staple shot up under my finger nail 25mm of it !!
Another time the gun got jammed so I disconnected the air line (safety conscious me
Dodgy nailguns, my tool of fear. I had a bostitch professional nailgun a while back, took two hands to support it and took magazines of ring nails into a holder at the front, it could fire 3" ring nails in one shot into hardwoods...
When I was using it one day, I nailed into a oak beam in the house, which some kind soul had buried a steel plate beneath the surface in. It bent the nail into a perfect U (we found it after) and fired it back at me, I must have reacted because I remember jerking my head away and feeling something bing me. When I put my hand up to my head, it came back down with blood on it so rushes to bathroom to check, and Ive got a line right across the left side of my forehead which continued down the side of my head. If I hadn't have moved, Id have been in A+E getting brain surgery I reckon...
When the seals blew, I was happy to give it a honourable burial instead of fixing it... The only tool I had that I was really nervous about using...
My index finger on the left hand is a funny shape today, and strapped to the one next to it. Taking one of the big chucks off it came off early and deformed my finger to the shape of the V bed underneath. Pity is theres no joint in that bit of the finger. Itll heal...
Rusty
Member
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- 600
knoba
...break a leg!
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- 863
- Location
- Sussex, England
Showered my eyes with an angle grinder (no googles - age 12). Folks took me to hospital after the job - couldn't see for $hit. The docs held my head (in a vice for peoples heads). I had to stare at this razor like blade as it scrapped the front of my eyeballs to remove the embedded swarf. The only thing that stopped me from running out of there; was studying the eye machine! Forged and milled; mostly stainless steel - lovely work!
Rusty
Member
- Messages
- 600
Put up a garden shed once, just finishing off with the facia boards over the door and finally put the diamond shaped piece of timber on to cover the join,i reached up with my claw hammer in my right hand,nail in my left,started to knock the nail in and dropped the hammer,the claw hit me right on the bridge of the nose ! ouch that kin hurt !
Cappy
Would be Luthier
- Messages
- 334
I was helping out in the engine room on the ship replacing a faulty fuel pump, I think, and many moons ago now. The space we were working in was so tight it didn't allow for hard hats and bump caps hadn't been though of. At one point I moved forward a bit too smart with my head and whacked it on the fuel rail, the reflex to withdraw sharply then caused me to thwack the back of my head on the air manifold. It did rattle again between the two, but only once more
A sort of pin-ball effect - score - two bruises
A sort of pin-ball effect - score - two bruises
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- 14,548
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- UK
Welding repairs to a machine dipper arm this afternoon, running 5mm rods. Threw a used rod on the floor. Took off gloves and mask and put my right hand on the floor to get up. Hand straight on still red hot rod. nasty burn across tips of three fingers. Hand under cold tap for 10 mins. owowowowowow no sleep tonight due to throbbing fingers no doubt.
Jesus.
Jesus.
