The man who cut off his own leg - but didn't need to
Thursday, June 7, 2007
A lumberjack cut off his own leg with a pocket-knife after he became pinned beneath a fallen tree for nearly 11 hours – only for a neighbour to turn up and rescue him soon after.
Al Hill was chopping down timber on a remote property when the tree fell on his leg and trapped him.
Alone in the woods and in an area with patchy mobile phone reception, the 66- year-old thought he had no choice but to amputate the limb to save himself.
But he was left in such agony that he could not move. Eventually, his screams alerted neighbour Eric Bockey.
'Only me, Al and God were there that day,' he said yesterday.
Mr Bockey walked 3.2km (2miles) to get phone reception and call the fire brigade. Then he and another neighbour loaded Mr Hill on to a pick-up truck and took him to an emergency landing site at Iowa Hill, California, where a helicopter airlifted him to hospital.
Fire chief Luana Dowling said: 'Mr Hill underwent successful emergency surgery. It is hard to believe he did not go into shock. He is pretty remarkable.'
News of Mr Hill's ordeal captivated Iowa Hill, a tiny town 100km (60miles) north-east of Sacramento, which has no electricity and few services for its 200 residents.
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12-06-2007, 21:40
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