A Colorado tree worker miraculously survived a freak accident involving a wood chipper that left him losing both of his legs within minutes of his first day on the job.
John O'Neill, 33, who was wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor, was throwing a tree branch into the machine when a tracking device caught him and dragged him into the chipper. According to the Denver Post.
O'Neal, who battled addiction and is now sober and excited about his new job, suffered a life-changing accident at 10:18 a.m. on Sept. 24 that resulted in both of his legs being amputated above the knee.
Mr O'Neill's friend George Safir said: “It's beyond a miracle that John is still with us and he's fighting harder than ever.” I wrote on GoFundMe. “Our friend has always been pretty reckless and lived his life on the edge, all the while remaining a warrior for life.”
At Longmont, just 15 minutes into his shift, O'Neal grabbed a branch shaped like a fishing hook and threw it into a machine.
The end of the branch caught on O'Neal's ankle monitor and dragged him into the rotating blade, which began cutting into his toes, feet, ankles, and feet.
All of O'Neill's co-workers were wearing earplugs, so no one could immediately hear his cries for help.
“It took a minute for my colleagues to realize what was going on,” O'Neill told the publication.
As the machine continued to eat away at him, O'Neill began to believe that his time was coming to an end.
“Something happened in my brain and I realized that I was more scared than losing a leg or leg,” O'Neill said.
“The pain was huge. There was very little pain,” he recalls. “I didn't feel much pain because I knew I had a problem. It went from fighting for a limb to fighting for my life very quickly.”
Ms O'Neill described the accident as “something you see in the movies” as she saw large amounts of blood pouring out of her skin, bones, muscles and legs.
O'Neal said she tried to stay as calm as possible to keep her heart rate down.
“I didn't panic. I was calm,” O'Neill said. “My colleagues said I was very perceptive throughout.”
When the blade reached mid-thigh, a colleague pulled him out and Mr O'Neill grabbed a nearby rope and applied a makeshift tourniquet.
He drifted in and out of consciousness, but credits his colleagues with rubbing his sternum and keeping him alive.
Police arrived at the scene and placed a real tourniquet on the rest of O'Neal's leg before taking him to a local hospital and then to St. Anthony Hospital in the Denver suburb of Lakewood.
During the helicopter ride, O'Neill told the outlet that he “technically died” and that his heart had stopped.
He “firmly believes” that the design of the ankle monitor was the reason he was not released from the wood chipper.
Doctors had to amputate the remainder of Mr O'Neill's dismembered leg and inject 15 pints of blood.
“They replaced virtually all the blood in my body,” he said.
When O'Neal woke up in his hospital room the next day, he called his mother, who became “very panicked” and was hospitalized for three days, according to the Denver Post.
Among the many people and organizations O'Neal reunited with while in the hospital was Phonics, a nonprofit organization that organizes “low-key events and activities” to help people battling addiction.
O'Neal will continue volunteering with the nonprofit, leading rock climbing and CrossFit events with the help of adaptation experts.
“I can't wait to jump into it because I feel this is uncharted territory and it will make life more exciting. I've always enjoyed a challenge,” he said.
O'Neal is “on the road to recovery faster than anyone else,” Safir said. “John is in great spirits and ready to get back to rock climbing.”
