Oops

[Wendelspanswick]

Must be something in the air, on Sunday my Mother In Law asked if I could remove the top from a brass vase. I donned goggles and ear defenders and ground the seam away to remove the top leaving a long strip of swarf still attached to the base. Stupidly I grabbed the strip to tear it off and ended up slicing through 3 of my fingers, no gloves and being razor sharp I had a nice view of my tendons before the blood obliterated the view.
4 hrs in casualty where they superglued my cuts closed and swathed my fingers in dressings.
I do get to remove my dressings today though.

[oldclaypaws]

What an amateur. A professional dipstick goes through at least two tendons as far as the bone. You clearly need further practice to achieve my level of plonkertude. Can give you lessons if you want. Hope your mother-in-law had liability cover, sounds like you can take her to the cleaners.

Glad I don't have a monopoly on being daft, good luck with your recovery Wendel.p., it makes me feel I'm not alone. Back in Musgrove Park twice next week to get plastered and then again to see the consultant. Maybe see you in the idiot unit?

[davetb]

Hope you recover quickly, OCP.
I am one of those NHS emergency consultant anaesthetists, as well as a woodland owner.
We had 2 chainsaw injuries a couple of days apart, recently - which keeps me frightened enough to be a bit more careful.
They were both minor and should recover fully. No limbs lost.
It's better that my frights and lessons are from patients, and not myself, so far.
Don't get me started about nerve blocks ( I am passionately against them ) - but this is probably not the forum for that debate.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the last of the bluebells...

[smojo]

Sorry to hear your accident. Hope you soon mend. I once sliced a piece off my finger end using a router blade in a pillar drill trying to cut a slot in some hardwood. It kept grabbing it and the stupid thing is I knew I was risking an accident and just kept on. It grabbed again and pulled my finger into it's path. I felt a sharp pain and thought "how much has gone". Luckily it wasn't too bad and has healed up but just a bit numb now.

[greyman]

You've started something now ocp: my tale of idiocy concerns chainsawing though my left knee TWICE in a matter of a few years! The first one I was working on the downs alone and just caught the front of my none PPE trousers on the rundown. Had to get myself into my van and drive to the surgery where after a wait the nurse gave the cut a swill out with iodine and took my trousers away 'cos I made a fuss about having stiches. Ended up with the doctor injecting into the cut and blanket stiching it up with 9 lovely sets. The second dose of idiocy was with my brother and at lunchtime. We went to the surgery and this time they just told me everyone was a lunch. Off to A&E standing at reception leaking into my left book answering silly questions they didn't seem to notice I had gone very pale. When the doctor saw me to look at it he made me feel so much better by saying the last chainsaw injury he had treated was in Canada and only the flesh at the back of the knee stopped the leg from falling off. 7 stiches in that one and a swift sign up to a chainsaw course and a purchase of suitable PPE. By the way - I'm a Health & Safety officer in my day job....

[oldclaypaws]

I'm a Health & Safety officer in my day job

Thats a great punchline.

I think there was one spill I had seemed like something out of a comic book. I wasn't hurt, but the 'special effects would have won an Oscar and it still makes me laugh thinking about it;

I often use a mini angle grinder to take the runny glaze drips off the bottom of my fired pots. As the glazes are essentially melted stone, it takes quite a bit of grinding and the friction makes the glaze fragments literally red hot.

There I was taking off a large drip, not wearing goggles of course, sitting on the floor. Somehow the glaze drop glowed red hot as I cut through it, attached to the grinding disc, flew round at high speed and hurtling towards my head, lodging between the corner of my eye and my nose. I screamed in pain, clutching my face, and promptly dropping the angle grinder onto my legs. It proceeded under propulsion from its blade to whizz across both my legs, cutting through my trousers, hopped onto the floor, and reached quite a speed heading across the room. The end was magnificent as it cut through it's own power lead and let out a loud bang!, accompanied by a bright purple flash.

Awesome. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

[greyman]

So, do you think all these tales of mangled body parts, near death experiences lead us to any conclusions? Do you think a selection of these set us up suitably to be woodland owners or is it a bit of Darwinism - those that survive etc?

[smojo]

So, do you think all these tales of mangled body parts, near death experiences lead us to any conclusions?

We're all chuffing idiots not far descended from apes and that's why we hang out in the woods

[davetb]

So, do you think all these tales of mangled body parts, near death experiences lead us to any conclusions? Do you think a selection of these set us up suitably to be woodland owners or is it a bit of Darwinism - those that survive etc?

I think regular tales of near misses etc will keep us all a bit more focused. It may mean the difference between putting gloves on, or not - for example.
We can all expect a few minor injuries, it's the 'life changing / ending' ones to try to avoid.
I was discussing, in work, about my level of sympathy is diminished with smokers who end up with their larynx being removed - a colleague told me that's the same as her level of sympathy will be diminished if I injure myself with a chainsaw. We all make lifestyle choices that change our 'risk profile' of potential injuries.
I have a less than average chance of a smoking related tumour, about average chance of being injured in a car crash and above average chance of a chainsaw / axe injury. We all live with these choices, even if we don't think about them.

The problem with Darwinism is that we (forum readers) tend towards the older end of the scale, and have already 'bred'. Whatever happens to us, the genes have been passed on. Stupid deaths in our cohort shouldn't make any evolutionary difference.

[oldclaypaws]

Firstly. I'd point out my injury had nothing to do with my owning a wood and didn't happen in the wood. It was a tool I've seen for sale at B & Q and I was using it in a garden at the time- there are millions of injuries every year from people picking up a towel off the bathroom floor, opening a packet of cheese or assembling a computer desk. Few of us will go through life without occasional scrapes. I've been playing with craft knives, melting things and rewiring stuff since I was in short trousers. This last incident is perhaps due to lack of concentration and may be related to part complacency and lack of thought. I'm not accident prone and have over 20 years no-claims on my car insurance. (It would be longer, but before that I didn't have a car)

Theres no doubt in my mind that the health benefits of owning a wood are massive and far outway any risks. Although I'm getting plastered on Monday (in hospital), in the last 2 years I've lost a stone in weight, not been depressed in the winter, surprised myself with the amount of physical energy I still have, and feel happier and more content than any other time in my life. As long as I have the wood, I'm fufilled and stress free. I've not had an injury in the wood apart from numerous bramble thorn pricks and a couple of tick bites. If anything, in the wood I tend to engage brain and think safety.

How many people have RSI injuries from using a computer mouse, ME without explanation, heart attacks from being out of condition, or nervous breakdowns caused by work stress? - Lots.

It would be interesting to see whether woodland owners have longer life spans, and whether they have more accidents than joe average. Its surprising how everyday life is so potentially hazardous; closing doors on your digits, hot stuff in the kitchen, bread knives, car crashes, slippery pavements, dog bites from your friends Yorky, exotic diseases on your holidays. I reckon light work in a wood isn't much more dangerous than anything else that can happen elsewhere, with a bit of care, and has many benefits.