[chainsaws can be fun and dangerous]

Yesterday was exciting... and a little painful. Last week I asked Eric if I could start working at the camp a little early doing Maintenance because there was a lot of work that needed to be done. RadioShack had already started my summer hours and I wasn't putting in as many as I was the rest of the year, this gave me some freetime to do other things like work at camp. The St. John's Builders are making another guest appearance at the camp next week and the challenge course is being inspected in the next month so I was given the task of spring cleaning around the challenge course; clearing trails cleaning moss and algae off the elements, clearing room for a new challenge course element, removing dead trees that could fall or drop dead branches on the challenge course elements or people... I was literally only had one tree to take care of near the Mohawk Walk / Multi-Vine element. I had successfully felled at least six trees precisely where I wanted including a tree with a diameter of almost two feet. This last tree was pretty dead and had been that way for a while. When I went to drop it along the length of the multi-vine. The tree was so dead that the saw cut through it like butter. I notched the tree I wanted it to fall with no problem, then I went to cut the back side of the tree to fell it. Normally when you get to a certain point on this cut the tree starts to lean ever so slightly and you know you can remove your saw and walk away while it falls the opposite direction it is falling. This didn't happen. Instead it suddenly started falling. with the new angle of the tree now falling and my blade running, it kicked back out of the tree. The kickback wasn't so sudden that the saw went directly into my leg, but instead caught on my pant leg which pulled the saw into my leg lacerating it. I think that this is why my leg wasn't cut as deep as it could have been. The running saw was also hot which cauterized the cut preventing me from bleeding heavily. I wasn't sure initially how bad I was cut, so I ran down the path with the chainsaw (which I had the mindset to shut off) and pulled up my pant leg up to inspect the wound. I decided that I needed to head home and give myself a more thorough once over and make sure I really wasn't bleeding badly. I jumped in the GMC and backed out of the woods, turned around and headed through the field directly to my house ignoring silly things such as roads and speed limits. I got home and inspected my leg more closely and noted that it was not bleeding badly, but put some gauze on it and called my lovely wife to try and decide whether to call an ambulance or Larry to take me to the hospital. I decided that it would be better to have Larry take me since my bleeding was under control and I could walk with very little pain. By the time that Larry got to the house to pick me up I had put an ace wrap on my wound along with a square of gauze bandage.
If you're squeamish about anything to do with blood, you can stop reading here. If you don't mind seeing what my leg looks like before they stitch me up you may continue.

Since the picture is a closeup let me just get you oriented. Since I took the pictures on my phone they are from my angle. My foot would be at the top of the photo, and my knee would be at the bottom of the photo. The one on the left I sent to Casey for input on whether I needed an ambulance or just have Larry take me to the ER. I decided that since I had mobility and there was no major arterial bleeding I would save an ambulance trip for a more serious event. Casey was in Mt. Gilead picking up Lisa (who holds the equivalent to Casey's position at our sister camp LMC) to go on a trip on their days off to the Columbus Zoo. Needless to say Lisa ended up coming up to Mansfield and having a late lunch after I was sutured up. I ended this trip by going to Kohls and replacing the jeans that I was wearing during the incident. Also, if anyone is interested in donating, I'll be taking donations for a pair of Chain Saw Chaps ($90) . I've considered buying a pair of these in the past but never thought that I'd be in a position that I would need them. Needless to say I'll have a pair before I use a Chain Saw again. I highly recommend getting a pair for anyone that does any chainsaw work at all. The injury wasn't all that painful, but it could have been a lot worse than it was. I'd say that I have God to thank for watching over me. Amen.