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AR15.COM
6/6/2007 8:22:28 PM EDT
Man Pinned Under Tree Amputates His Leg
AP
IOWA HILL, Calif. (June 6) - Residents are pulling for a neighbor who was forced to amputate his left leg below the knee using pocket knives after a tree fell on him, pinning him for about 11 hours.

Al Hill, 66, was cutting trees on a property near the Big Dipper Mine last Friday when a tree fell on his leg and trapped him, authorities said. Alone in the woods and in an area where cellular phone service is spotty or nonexistent, Hill was forced to take the extreme measure to save himself.

Eventually, a neighbor in the area heard Hill's cries for help. Eric Bookey declined to talk about the events.

"Only me, Al and God were there that day," he said.

Bookey had to go nearly two miles to get a cellular signal and make an emergency call, which came in to the all-volunteer fire department about 7:30 p.m., Iowa Hill Fire Chief Luana Dowling told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Bookey and a neighbor loaded Hill into a truck and took him to an emergency landing site in town, where a helicopter met them and took him to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, where he underwent amputation surgery, Dowling said.

She said it was hard to believe Hill didn't go into shock.

"He's a pretty remarkable person," Dowling said.

News of Hill's ordeal has captivated this tiny town about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento, where there is no electricity and few services for the roughly 200 residents.

"I was in the store when they called the fire department," said Cathy Morgan, who works in Iowa Hill's one-room schoolhouse. "We were real worried because (Hill) has diabetes."

Betty "Charlie" Gilcrest lives near the accident site but said she didn't hear Hill's cries for help. She said she has visited him in the hospital, where he was alert and in good spirits.

"We're all glad Eric (Bookey) was there," she said.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
6/6/2007 8:23:56 PM EDT
[#1]
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?
6/6/2007 8:25:23 PM EDT
[#2]

Quoted:
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?


I think that guy was caught under a rock while climbing and had to cut his arm off.
6/6/2007 8:25:59 PM EDT
[#3]

Quoted:
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?

I remember a climber had to cut his harm.

I would have tried cutting the tree first
6/6/2007 8:28:23 PM EDT
[#4]

Quoted:
I would have tried cutting the tree first


Or used the knife to dig into the dirt under my leg.
6/6/2007 8:29:00 PM EDT
[#5]
he did good, though i cant even imagine the pain and what was going through his head while doing the deed. would have to cut though the flesh and muscle, then break the bone and continue cutting then have a tourniquet ready. survival instinct is strong with this one.
6/6/2007 8:29:37 PM EDT
[#6]
I am not sure if I could do the same thing if I was pinned.  The person was definitely brave though.
6/6/2007 8:29:44 PM EDT
[#7]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?


I think that guy was caught under a rock while climbing and had to cut his arm off.


No, it was an old guy with his leg.  Everyone was saying what a tough, old son-of-a-bitch he must have been.

Am I having deja-vu?
6/6/2007 8:30:01 PM EDT
[#8]

Quoted:
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?


IN 2003 Aron Ralston amputated his own arm after he was trapped by a boulder in the Utah canyon lands for 5 days. He had to snap both bones in his lower arm  to remove the arm.

Then he rigged rappeling anchors, rappelled down and hiked out. Two days after he ran out of water.
6/6/2007 8:30:04 PM EDT
[#9]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?

I remember a climber had to cut his harm.

I would have tried cutting the tree first


I've always thought that it would be easier to just dig underneath the trapped appendage, but then again I've never actually been in a similar situation.
6/6/2007 8:30:42 PM EDT
[#10]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?

I remember a climber had to cut his harm.

I would have tried cutting the tree first


I remember him.  I was sure there was an old guy who cut off his leg too.

6/6/2007 8:31:15 PM EDT
[#11]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?


IN 2003 Aron Ralston amputated his own arm after he was trapped by a boulder in the Utah canyon lands for 5 days. He had to snap both bones in his lower arm  to remove the arm.

Then he rigged rappeling anchors, rappelled down and hiked out. Two days after he ran out of water.


No, not him.  I remember him too.
6/6/2007 8:34:13 PM EDT
[#12]
I'd have to be pinned a heck of a lot longer than 11 hours before I even considered amputation.

Friggin amputation!
6/6/2007 8:34:49 PM EDT
[#13]

Quoted:
Am I having deja-vu?


Maybe this is a dupeja-vu.....

I searched, but only for 24 hours.
6/6/2007 8:36:31 PM EDT
[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Am I having deja-vu?


Maybe this is a dupeja-vu.....

I searched, but only for 24 hours.


I'm sure you're well past the statute of limitations on a dupe.  It was a year or so ago.  I think...
6/6/2007 8:44:31 PM EDT
[#15]
Placer County folk tend to be a bit more rugged...
6/6/2007 8:47:42 PM EDT
[#16]

Quoted:
Placer County folk tend to be a bit more rugged...


I wanna' know how long between the amputation and his being discovered?

I can just imagine it...

Finish an excruciating self amputation and then your buddy shows up five minutes later.
6/6/2007 8:48:27 PM EDT
[#17]

Quoted:
IOWA HILL, Calif. (June 6) - Residents are pulling for a neighbor who was forced to amputate his left leg below the knee using pocket knives after a tree fell on him


He used more than one?
6/6/2007 8:53:05 PM EDT
[#18]

Quoted:

Quoted:
IOWA HILL, Calif. (June 6) - Residents are pulling for a neighbor who was forced to amputate his left leg below the knee using pocket knives after a tree fell on him


He used more than one?


Hell, I always have more than one on me, and I'm not planning on getting caught under anything...
6/6/2007 8:57:15 PM EDT
[#19]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Quoted:
IOWA HILL, Calif. (June 6) - Residents are pulling for a neighbor who was forced to amputate his left leg below the knee using pocket knives after a tree fell on him


He used more than one?


Hell, I always have more than one on me, and I'm not planning on getting caught under anything...


nor do any of us, seems this old timer who had been in the same ao many years had a spell of bad luck. better to have and not need and so forth. hope for the best plan for the worst
6/6/2007 8:58:47 PM EDT
[#20]
Always carry a knife!
6/6/2007 9:08:03 PM EDT
[#21]



I've always thought that it would be easier to just dig underneath the trapped appendage...


Unless underneath is a house-sized boulder, which are common in Placer County.
6/6/2007 9:09:43 PM EDT
[#22]
Back in '94 this guy was trapped under a tree and had to cut his leg off

www.ampulove.com/storys/ampreal008.htm (hit cancel when the password prompt comes up)



6/6/2007 9:14:06 PM EDT
[#23]
This guy has a pair of brass ones. I wonder why he couldn't dig himself out? Maybe his leg was pinned under the tree and a boulder?
6/6/2007 9:21:40 PM EDT
[#24]

Quoted:
This guy has a pair of brass ones. I wonder why he couldn't dig himself out? Maybe his leg was pinned under the tree and a boulder?


edited to delete stupid comment sinc ei wasnt there and dont know the facts.
6/6/2007 9:35:42 PM EDT
[#25]
Stories like these have been around for years.  The oldest I remember was hearing back in th 60's about pearl divers (the ocean kind) getting their feet caught inside giant clams and having to cut them off.  
6/6/2007 9:44:09 PM EDT
[#26]

Quoted:
Stories like these have been around for years.  The oldest I remember was hearing back in th 60's about pearl divers (the ocean kind) getting their feet caught inside giant clams and having to cut them off.  
I read one about a guy in a Civil War battle who amputated his own leg while waiting for evac off of the field. I'm pretty sure that he still died though.
6/6/2007 10:03:31 PM EDT
[#27]
pics?
6/6/2007 10:25:23 PM EDT
[#28]
HOLY HELL IT's a DUPE-utation!!  This guy has only cut 3 legs off in the last year!!

Nah I'm just shittin ya, interesting shit, but like somebody else said, it'd take a hell of a lot more than 11 hours before considering it....  Of course, I give him some credits, cutting trees alone at 66 and he's a diabetic??
6/7/2007 5:02:21 AM EDT
[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Wasn't there a story almost identical to this about a year ago?


I think that guy was caught under a rock while climbing and had to cut his arm off.


Nope.
About five years ago, another guy had the exact same thing happen to him.
A tree fell on his leg and he cut it off.
6/7/2007 5:07:29 AM EDT
[#30]
dangerous work
6/7/2007 5:15:50 AM EDT
[#31]

Quoted:
HOLY HELL IT's a DUPE-utation!!  This guy has only cut 3 legs off in the last year!!



Maybe he keeps getting his "stump" caught and has to saw it off shorter and shorter each time.



6/7/2007 5:19:36 AM EDT
[#32]
I would imagine you could whittle a lot of wood in 11 hours.  

But, I wasn't there.
It's difficult to comprehend his limited options.
6/7/2007 5:22:16 AM EDT
[#33]

Quoted:
Always carry a knife!


And chainsaw with a buddy