Amazing that I've lived this long

[Buzz 502]

We've all done dumb things but it seems like I've done more than my share. A couple of weeks ago I changed our clotheslines for heavier ones with less stretch. What could possibly go wrong? First thing was that we use clothesline tighteners and the heavier line wouldn't go through. No problem, I got a piece if mechanics wire about a foot long and folded about 3 inches back. Used electrical tape to secure it to the clothes line, wrapped it really tight and kind of tapered it. Stuck the long end through the tensioner and used my thumb to take pressure off it. Pulled the long part of the wire but it was tight and barely moved. Gave it at hard yank and..... ouch. Darn that smarts. Tried to pull it back out but wouldn't budge. Guess I need to go to the emergency room but problem is I'm still attached to the clothes line. Called the wife and she came out, almost fainted, then called my daughter who cut the line.

Carol drove me to the ER and surprisingly it wasn't packed. Doc looked at it and sent me for x-rays to make sure that it didn't go through a bone. That had a hard time getting it in position to x-ray it with the long piece of wire that wasn't stuck through my thumb. Wait a second, I still had my wire cutting pliers in my back pocket so I cut it off. That technician started to throw it away then asked my if I wanted to keep it. I told him, ta da " Well I was kind of attached to it". Anyhow the wire hadn't hit bone or any major nerves so after numbing it (THAT hurt like Hell) they pulled the wire out. Gave me a tetanus shot and a script for antibiotics and sent me home. Oh yeah, told the wife to  not let my play without supervision. 

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,524]

OUCH!

 

Hope it heals quickly with no issues...

 

Tetanus booster I assume?

[oliver2-44 9,725]

II too hope it heals quickly for you.

Many years ago I was up on a scaffold installing some Hardie siding and my younger son was helping me. My nail gun did a double bounce andI shot a ring shank nail through my second finger. Thanklyfull I didn’t nail myself to the wall  Doc at ER said he didn’t have anything big enough to cut the head off to pull it through. So I handed him my big side cut pliers that I had got from my shop for the job. He poured alcohol all over them and cut the head then pulled the nail through. 

 

Im much mor careful with nail guns these days and really don’t like installing that Hardie siding 

[AMC RULES 37,130]

Surprised at not seeing you bleeding  red there Buzz.  

[Machineguy 877]

OUCH! 

[Buzz 502]

Surprised me too. Even when they pulled it out there were only a couple of drops. 

[Ed Kennell 38,112]

   

[Buzz 502]

29 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

   

 

There are 3 pictures on this wall of shame.

[953 nut 55,155]

2 hours ago, Buzz said:

after numbing it (THAT hurt like Hell)

I know what you mean, when I cut the end of my finger off it didn't hurt too much until they numbed it to stitch it back together. That was about 20 years ago but I remember the pain.

[KC9KAS 4,741]

@Buzz Hope you heal quickly!

We all have done dumb $hit that we look back on and wonder about!

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330]

OMG.... I really don't deal with that kind of stuff well.. 

[BOB ELLISON 2,981]

I think every one has done things that after it happens we think how stupid was that. A simple pair of leather gloves or protective glasses would have made a big difference. So @Buzz on the up side we've all done something we're not proud of doing. And on the down side

That was really a dumb thing you did.

I hope everything turns out  Allright for you.

 

 

 

 

[Buzz 502]

Everything turned out okay. No lingering effects except that I wore leather gloves when I finished the job.  

 

[rjg854 11,356]

Good to hear you're no worse for the wear

[rmaynard 15,434]

That's the way life is. When you woke up that morning you never thought "I'm going to shove a piece of wire through my thumb today". But stuff like that happens all the time, and the near misses that occur could fill a book. We are lucky that we didn't die in chapter one.

 

Glad it wasn't worse Buzz. 

[Sarge 3,463]

Yeah - those hurt, not always at first, but sooner or later you'll regret that one. Interesting how you yanked on it hard enough to drive it through the flesh that easily, but the chiseled end from cutting pliers probably helped. I've been yelled at by our old doc more than once for driving something into bone that was tough for him to remove - you got lucky to have missed it, that's about as close as you could get.

 

When I was first learning to tig weld I spent a lot of time also grinding tungsten - pretty easy to dip it into the puddle from the habit of using stick electrodes for so many years. Anyhow, my 17 series torch came with slotted collets - the type that clamps down when tightened inside the head, but those slots over time get twisted and distorted from the heat - then the tungsten gets stuck in the collet. I'd usually remove them with a pair of pliers, but got tired of reaching for those so I just held it in my hand and bashed it onto the vice. Punched a nice and hot thoriated tungsten through my right hand between the thumb and index finger, no real pain and immediately pulled it right back out. Figured since the stuff is slightly radioactive, probably should wash out the hole with Peroxide - wow, now that will get your attention. Think I peed a little, but it never got infected and the scars are almost invisible now - lesson learned. Glad it was only a 3/32" size tungsten, the larger 1/8" or greater would have done some real damage.

 

Sarge

[tunahead72 2,412]

Sorry Buzz, I won't be following this thread, you lost me on the word "thumb" in your first post. Hope it all works out, whatever it is. 😁

 

We have a contractor working on our place in Virginia, cut off the tip of his thumb with a saw a couple of weeks ago. I can't bear to even think about it.