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Man accidentally saws off hand, then shoots nails into head
January 25, 2001
Web posted at: 6:33 AM EST (1133 GMT)
BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania (AP) — A Pennsylvania construction worker accidentally cut off his hand with a power saw and then shot himself in the head with a nail gun several times, apparently hoping to end his pain, police said.
William Bartron, 25, had at least a dozen 1-inch nails protruding from his scalp, police said. He underwent surgery to reattach the hand and was hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday, said his employer Greg Soltis.
Bartron severed his hand Tuesday while using a miter saw in the basement of another man’s home, police said.
After finding Bartron, the man called emergency. Soltis arrived a short time later.
Soltis said Bartron had shot several nails into his head with a pneumatic gun “because he could not stand the pain from the amputation,” according to police.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Replies
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Another proof that pneumatic acupuncture does not work.
*Damn lucky he wasn't carrying a hand-gun, or he'd be dead instead of lieing in the hospital with his hand reattached.
*Fingers I could comprehend, but how in the name of Zeus do you cut off your whole hand???? I mean, you ought to have a fairly good idea where the blade is going, shouldn't you? I've got a lot of respect for my chopsaw, which I demonstrate by not reaching under the blade!As for the nails in the noggin, that just follows naturally.did
*Cutting an entire hand off, now that takes some skill. Interesting reaction to cutting your hand off. Most people that I have seen cut themselves go into shock and don't really feel the pain until later.Eric
*I wonder if this is where the "drugs on the job" post should continue. DUUUDE, I think I just cut off my own hand, quick get me a nailer so I can reattach it, would'nt it look good growing out of my head?
*And they say this guy's in STABLE condition??Now, there'll probably be a push to license those users of dangerous nail guns.
*Could have been worse. Could have cut off somebody else's hand.JonC
*Amazing. Heard this on the news on the way out this morning. That qualifies as a really bad day...
*Obviously he was using a Craftsman nailer.
*this does make a rather strong case for always using the proper length nail for the task at hand...
*got any aspirin .. 'er tylenol ?no ?.. well hand me that spike gun......
*Man, I must be sick, I can't stop laughing.
*Yaa wonder why he finally stopped pulling the trigger....out of nails?....Makes a good case for the capacity of the coil nailers...near the stream,aj
*About 20 years ago while living in New Haven CT there was a newspaper piece about a guy cutting 2by held across his thigh. The article quoted doctors as optimistic that the patient would regain full use of his penis. I don't know if Chicago cops would bring it to the hospital like in New Haven. It pains me just to think about it.
*lmao at the responses. Ordinarily, this type of accident would be so tragic, but seriously, how in the hell did he accomplish this one? Losing a hand under a mitre saw? too muchDon and Jason are both right. No he isn't stable, and he got lucky with the craftsman.
*I can't wait to see that x-ray on ripleys believe it or not. All these little brads sticking here and there, wow what a sight. A good case for nature taking care of itself, the wiser go on, those not so bright go to the hospital on there way to the funeral home. I wonder if he still wants to work in the trades, maybe something in the insulation field would be more suiting, just a sharp razor blade and manual stapler. I agree , for some reason I can't quit giggling, sick, real sick.
*Sorry Guys, no humor for me on this one. I almost lost my thumb on my right hand December 18th. I'm glad medical science is better than it was 10 years ago.
*A friend of mine is a forensic scientist with the RCMP. They keep a book on weird accidents like this, and he told me about a few (he doesn't know that much about tools); the one that sticks in my mind is a guy that tried to saw himself in two with a radial arm saw. I'm not making this up.
*I'm with Michael on this one. One of my best friends, and a craftsman of the first order, tried to stop his pain with a nail gun to the head. Only he didn't use 1" brads. It was 3" spikes. Managed to leave a wife and five daughters with a permanently disabled husband/father. For them and us, this accident is just a laugh riot.
*gallows humor jim k. a way to distance myself from the fact it could have been me...sorry it struck too close to home
*Obviously this guy skipped right past the safety warnings in the front of the manual. It's right there in bold print on page two"b Do not shoot yourself in the head with only 1" nails to relieve pain!I swear it's true, I am not making this up.blue
*It is possible that the spring that keeps the saw upright broke. Under that circumstance, the saw just drops swiftly. If he reached to pick up the cut part, anything in the way goes. It happened to a builder in my part of the woods. He had to pick up the pieces and drive himself to the hospital. I changed both of my chop saws shortly thereafter, and will do so every two years. Just plain bad luck.
*You know these crazy things never happened before we had electric tools. I firmly believe we should outlaw them. They are dangerous, loud, deplete the ever dwindling supply of electric and drive house prices down. We should switch back to all hand tools like our forefathers, house prices would go up, the chops would disappear from the workplace, and we all would be alot safer. Did I ever tell you guys about the 2 story , 3500sq/ft house custom home I built with just a leatherman tool....it was magnificent, I'll post pictures some day. Had to have the blade sharpened a few times, but it was an accomplishment. Keith
*Adrian, just goes to prove radial arm saws are inherently dangerous!:-)
*Ditto, and I wasn't even trying to say anything funny. Sorry about your friends.
*Greg....Why would anyone reach under a turning blade!?...Why of course...to see if it will cut off his hand....Sorry,...but too scarey for me!...Right hand grabs the piece on the right...left hand...the left...Maybe that needs to go on the saw too in a yellow sticker.Distraction is my number one concern...Everyday I tell myself to stay focused on the job at hand...Knock on wood...We are all close to sever land daily...and much more...Hope all these guys get to enjoy there next xmas with family and good cheer. God Bless
*But I bet there isn't a person on this list: GC, carp, DYI, or cook who hasn't sent a chill down there own spine with a close call.
*Did a double take at this post. Obviously couldn't be real. Wow! Goes back to the old adage use the right tool for the job.If I was gonna cut off my hand i would use a band saw. I think it would do a neater job and less mess. Then if i wanted to numb the pain with a shot to the head i would probably use a Hilti 350. This presents a problem because it is always imperative to use both hands with a powder actuated fastener. Here is where the duct tape may come in handy... now have you ever tried to apply duct tape with one hand? And how would you tear it? I guess I'm sick as any cause as much as feel I should sympathize with this individual I do question his judgement. Skip
*I don't think a little laughter is bad. I've heard it said that the Eskimos when faced with a trajic situation would laugh. Look it's Mr Bill being eaten by a polar bear Ha Ha Ha. What else can they do. Mr Bill did something stupid or maybe was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But what else can they do but laugh. Is it better to be stone cold serious -- I don't think so. I certainly don't mean to be callous and I have nothing but compassion for any accident victim and those who know them --- they are surely looking at the world in a different light than most of us breaktime guys. But we all owe it to ourselves to process this reality in our own way and for many of us, what works is a bit of humor. What else can we do?Jim Malone
*here is an argument for steel studs...first, he would have had to really push downi hardto get a cut-off saw to sever his hand. second, if he was sucessfull, he would have had to put i screws into his head. No wait. I guess he would have needed the other hand to load the screws.
*Funny thing, I once drop kicked a plate glass window cause I thought it was plexi-glass. Surprise! Severed my achilles tendon. While I sat in the street waiting for the ambulance, trying to curb the bleeding we were all laughing at my stupidity.When people are on the edge, they do different things, some white knuckle and panic, some stare and do nothing. Laughter has a way of keeping you in the moment and enabling you to function. I'd rather have guys laughing and helping than running scared. Seen both.www.jjwalters.com
*Jim, This is off the topic. Like your site.BobL
*You guys are sick. Reminds of when my neighbor attempted suicide, but only shot off his arm. We spent the next day discussing how disarming a man he was, and that he was no longer fit for the armed services.....Black humor has its place and its risks. In the end though, laughter heals.Andy
*Skip is absolutely correct. A bandsaw is clearly the correct choice when cutting off your own hand.Look in the back room of any butchers shop and you will find a bandsaw for cutting up meat and bone.
*Reminds me of the one where the guy working in a cabinet shop cuts off a finger on the bandsaw, sarts to scream with pain, and when his boss rushes over and says "How the hell did you do that?" the guy replies "like this" and proceeds to saw off another finger!!
*... and naturally the last book he read .... i A Farewell to Arms
*Andy,At least he will be less dangerous now that he has been unarmed.DOH!Pete
*There is no way this guy cut is hand off because the spring broke and the saw dropped on his hand. Think..... finger is off the trigger, saw starts to slow....by the time you reach you entire hand beneath the blade, the saw is even slower....the saw crops and digs into your hand and the blade stops somewhere in there. You'd have to have the trigger still on to get your whole hand off.Definitely stupid. Runner-up for the Darwin awards?Then he goes for the nailgun instead of the phone or help? Ahhhh, mental problem pre-existing most likely.Pete
*How do we act under pressure or pain? Serious situations, I keep a cool head. More gets accomplished this way.When I got shot, I actually recall making a lot of jokes although I was in extreme pain. Guess laughter is the best medicine.Pete
*I think he must have gripped the nailgun in panic, setting it going, and pointed it toward his head while directing his attention to his problem , not realizing that he was shooting nails into his own head in the moment. I sure hope the hand sewn back on recovers well. He must have realized fairly quickly and dropped the nail gun and grasped his wrist to staunch the bleeding. I am believing in prayer for he and his family.
*Nail guns don't quite work that way Astrid- there is a safety that has to be depressed to allow them to shoot.I don't favor the bandsaw- I suspect half way through I would be inclined to turn back- who knows what happened Pete- I can't fathom lopping off an appendenge short of an auto accident- but I have been on site when it happened. Takes about point zero seconds of not paying attention and you take your fingers home in a baggy.( I have carried my boss'es fingers to the paramedics.)Nobody knows how they will react until it happens to them.Prayers and good thoughts for the guy
*Oh yeah- Adrian-I fuggin hate radial arm saws...you can probably guess why
*I've seen the spring break in a 15" Hitachi that the brake didn't work in. That baby could've cut through a cinder block coasting. Nobody got hurt, and it made me like my radial arms (get it?) even better.
*Jim, This is off the topic. Like your site. Thanks Bobl, I asked (Andy I believe) and he thought it would be fine to signature with it. There are a lot of people coming through here who may want to know more about me and my advise before they take it.I might add that although laughter is good in a nasty situation, it usually takes place after the situation is somewhat under control. Noone laughs in the middle unless they're a little tetched in the head.
*Durn, I was hoping it would show up better on the scanner. Anyway, I've oulined in yellow a scar that I have from a chop saw. Yep, left arm. This was the third job I ever had as a carp. The boss was pushing hard to get as much done as quickly as possible. And oh yeah, he neglected to mention that the chop saw had a dead spot on the armature and it sometimes jumped. I was trying to cut some pieces as fast as possible, and was paying only enough attention to safety to keep my arm away from the blade. When it jumped, I, of course, slipped. Nearly cut my arm in two. Strange thing was, the main artery there was somehow pushed ahead of the blade instead of cut, and it was hanging out in the open. The boss drove me to the hospital, acting like a maniac the whole way. I was tempted to make him pull over and let me drive, but I was too busy holding the blood in.As for hand tools being safer, that square light spot next to the nail on my middle finger is from a block plane, and the blood on my index knuckle is from a cut from a razor saw as I was working today.
*Jim, I've whacked my thumb twice ( what once wasn't enough?) into surgical situations. Give me the humor all the way every time. Stupidity appreciates it.Huuuh?We need to find out what kind of nail gun didn't set the nails thru a skull.
*This story is so bizarre, it makes me wonder if this man was a very disturbed individual, and that maybe the accident was not so accidental. I would definitly like to hear the rest of the story. Where's Paul Harvey when you need him?John
*Pete, It would be possible to cut one's hand off if the spring broke after the cut, if the brake on the saw was not functioning as well. How many chop saws have you seen on jobs where the brakes did not work. The saws can run at pretty high rpm's for many seconds. Some guys just don't want to spend the money on safety. Also if the cut was right at the wrist, the bone could be bypassed altogether and just slide through soft tissues. GW
*The extra details are killing me...I have way too vivid an imagination.near the stream not crossing under the blade with nuttin,ajknock on wood....with both hands and ten fully functioning digits...
*luka... gud to see yur not a nail-biter... restores my faith in ya....got any aspirin ? hah, hah, hah
*typing this with one hand tonight...enjoyed life and peace in my God...
*Mike,Plenty o excedrin. I guess I'm glad that boss didn't have a nail gun, he'da put me out-o-his misery fer sure. I quit that gig about a month later. Decided I was more interested in staying alive than I was in making the butthead another fast buck.nathan w,your pic is a no-show.
*just as well, Luka. It's just a scratch compared to what this fellow went through. I thought maybe I'd hold myself up for a good ribbing. I have been re-hashing the day from different angles, and had an enhanced appreciation for what that fellow went through. The reasons why he cut it off, and why he shot himself in the head are his business, . Right now I feel fortunate, and wouldn't mind helping him out some. Maybe he doesn't need money, but then, maybe there isn't anyone else there, and hence, the suicide attempt?please don't read preachin' into this, b-timers....and on a darker angle,i what if it was the owner of the house?....I mean, after today, I can't imagine anyone going through that, and then getting back up for more. Roger Martini, do you have the location of where you saw this?
*Luka, I managed to clear your photo up quite nicely. It's a much better picture now and it is clear as to what your intentions were.Oh, by the way, were you related to the guy in Phillie that this thread is about?blue
*Thanks Blue. I was worried about whether I had made it clear enough or not. What would I do without an artist of your calibre on the board ? In gratitude, I decided to try in my kludgey manner to alter the picture even further, just to show you how much I appreciate it. My art skills are so bad that I even broke my thumb in the attempt, as you can see. I hope yer happy.
*ok.... i no what happens next.....
*My pleasure Luka. I had a dermatologist friend look at your scars to see if he could do some plastic surgery. He forgot about the surgury after he noticed a serious case of warts. The might be genital warts. It might be best to get a second opinion.sorry about those extra digits. you didn't really need all of them anyways.blue
*ROFLMFAO !!!!You win. But only because there's nowhere left for me to booger the picture any more.b : )
*Right Luka, now we can start on Nathans hand.thanks for the laff.blue
*I was sawing the tongue off a piece of T & G flooring, squatting on the floor behind my portable table-saw. The blade picked up the off-cut and drove it back through the narrow gap between guard and blade and 5 1/2" into my inner thigh. It missed the sapphanous(sp?) vein by 1/2" and the Family Jewels by about 3".Sure made it difficult to drive to the hospital.
*hurts when I laugh! Knock it offtry it again here
*What is an "X-Macbinary" file ?Your attatchment will not open here. Saves itself as an .html file, then comes up totaly blank when I open it.Try saving your file as .gif .bmp or .jpg then attatch it.
*the moment is gone, now I'm just trying to make Corel Paint save in jpeg, when it says it is doing so....no luck. If I want to play here, I'll have to learn what the f(&(&* I'm doing with this computer...
*For Blue.
*Sorry Rein, your attachment was empty. I couldn't open either of Nathan's either.blue
*Odd? I'll try again.
*Still empty Rein.blue
*If it's empty, then how come when I click on either of Rein's attachments I see a drawing of 3/4's of a bandaid c/w little holes to let the air through ?
*Phill, I see a little red x.Maybe I should send in my IP payment.blue
*I found this at CNN. I'm glad the guy is okay with his hand sewn back on. Wouldn't be so funny otherwise.cheers.
*Send in your optometrist payment first.b : )
*This is absolutely bazaar. Was at a job site when a guy cut the outside of his left hand off (little finger and all) trimming rafters off. He didn't speak to anyone for a week including his wife.
*Adrian, I saw that one.....in the middle he says...I expect you to DIE, Mr. Bond! Jeff
*
Man accidentally saws off hand, then shoots nails into head
January 25, 2001
Web posted at: 6:33 AM EST (1133 GMT)
BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A Pennsylvania construction worker accidentally cut off his hand with a power saw and then shot himself in the head with a nail gun several times, apparently hoping to end his pain, police said.
William Bartron, 25, had at least a dozen 1-inch nails protruding from his scalp, police said. He underwent surgery to reattach the hand and was hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday, said his employer Greg Soltis.
Bartron severed his hand Tuesday while using a miter saw in the basement of another man's home, police said.
After finding Bartron, the man called emergency. Soltis arrived a short time later.
Soltis said Bartron had shot several nails into his head with a pneumatic gun "because he could not stand the pain from the amputation," according to police.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.