Employee lost forearm in machine; now he fights to recover
December 2, 2008 by Fred HosierPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, Safety training
PDF During safety training, it’s often difficult to counter some workers’ “it won’t happen to me” attitudes. Perhaps you can get their attention with this story of a man’s recovery after losing his forearm in a machine at work.
Mel Deng lost his right arm just a few inches below his elbow. He was working at a box machine when it chewed up his hand and forearm, destroying muscles and nerves.
Paramedics tried to save the forearm. But he was bleeding to death, and they had to amputate his arm right at the scene of the incident, according to The Kansas City Star.
Now, Deng thinks that he hasn’t just lost his arm; he’s lost his future, too.
He wonders how he’ll be able to work and says he feels like half a man, no good to anyone.
Deng doesn’t want his wife or children to see him without a hand. He immigrated to the U.S. from Sudan years ago and became a U.S. citizen. His wife and children are still in Sudan.
He has to wear a stretch “sock” on the stump to help it heal.
Four months after the accident, he’s undergoing physical therapy. When the physical therapist prods and pokes at what’s left of his forearm, he grimaces, trying to hide the pain.
He’ll still need more surgery, and then he’ll be fitted with a prosthetic forearm and hand.
While there are prosthetics made to look like a real hand, they’re not as useful as those that end with a hook. Deng is resigned, for usefulness purposes, to the idea of a hook.
Doctors have given Deng some hope for his future. But it’s a tough road.
SafetyNewsAlert.com delivers the latest Safety news once a week to the inboxes of over 270,000 Safety professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to SafetyNewsAlert!
Loading ...
December 8th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Well that was a totally useless article to highlight. Yes it deals with the physical and emotional suffering of an on-the-job injury, but it does not point to the cause of the accident, nor how it could have been avoided. Your intro in your newsletter said this article could help “counter some workers’ “it won’t happen to me” attitudes.” But there is nothing in here to counter that. Yes this article deals with the aftermath and the grief and distress it has caused, but it does nothing to abate a worker’s “won’t happen to me” attitude. There is no lesson’s learned, no point to the story, no causal factors. Sorry but I won’t be using this as a briefing topic to sway my workers as your opening article suggests.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Editor responds: True, the original newspaper story does not include details about the accident.
A suggestion: I don’t think it matters that the details of the story match operations in your facility exactly. What sort of tasks at your workplace might result in a lost or mangled limb?
The importance of PPE is a transferable idea. If you don’t wear your goggles, you could lose an eye. If you don’t wear your hard hat, you could suffer traumatic brain injury. If you don’t wear proper fire-protective clothing, you could suffer severe burns. If you don’t do X, horrible consequence Y can happen.
Who has heard Charlie Morecraft, President of Phoenix Safety Management, tell his story of being burned on the job at an oil refinery? I’ve heard it three times at various safety conferences. Charlie uses lots of specifics in telling what caused the explosion and fire that caused him to have serious burns over much of his body and feel pain from the injuries decades later. He goes into detail about the excrutiating pain he suffered for months in hospital burn units. And every year he asks how many people have heard his story before. Many raise their hands, yet you can hear a pin drop when he tells his story. And every time, he gets a standing ovation from his audience. His story is no less compelling to occupations outside of oil refining. The transferable message: If you ignore safety, even just for a moment, you can live with the horrible consequences for the rest of your life. His point: Do the right thing regarding safety every time, whether it’s fall protection, PPE, locking and tagging out, etc.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
The point that Drew was making is that the article doesn’t address what the cause or other factors were. If this guy was doing an unsafe act, or defeated safety guards, it makes the injury moot - he brought it on himself. And that is entirely the point. I, too, have heard Morecraft’s speech, and it is compelling. But if his story started off by saying, “It was my fault, and I by-passed safety regs, it would be less compelling.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I have to agree with the comments from both Drew and Larry. The story has no point without a defined cause fo the accident. Has Drew said, hardly worth highlighting.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:35 am
All comments are right on. The Charlie Morecraft comment is right on, great video
December 9th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Any time you lose a part of you whether it be as little as a finger or a toe you are going to “fight to recover”. I agree with Larry and George there should be more to the article other wise its just another article with very little meaning.