# MN Man Pinned Under Tree For 4 Days



## Philbert (Sep 5, 2020)

Why it's not good to cut alone . . .









Man Survives After Being Pinned Under A Tree For 4 Days


A man was rescued Monday after being pinned under a tree for four days in Redwood County.




minnesota.cbslocal.com





*'MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO)*_ — A man was rescued Monday after being pinned under a tree for four days in Redwood County.
The sheriff’s office says they were notified late Monday afternoon that 59-year-old Jonathan Ceplecha had been discovered under a tree, which had pinned both of his legs.
He had been cutting down trees on Aug. 27 when the accident occurred – breaking his legs instantly. Ceplecha lives alone and didn’t have a phone with him.
He laid pinned under the tree for more than 100 hours, drinking sweat and rainwater, and eating whatever plants and insects he could reach.
His ex-wife found him on Monday after calls from his family went unanswered, and he missed the first day of school where he teaches.
The Redwood Falls Fire Department spent two hours working to free Ceplecha, who was airlifted from the area.
Ceplecha has already had several surgeries at Hennepin Healthcare. His family says there’s a long road to recovery ahead.
A GoFundMe has been set up if you’d like to help with expenses, click here to donate.'_

Philbert


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## JTM (Sep 5, 2020)

I would hope my family would be concerned after a few hours of no contact, especially when they would know I was cutting trees. Four days? Dude, you might want to find some new peeps.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Sep 6, 2020)

JTM said:


> I would hope my family would be concerned after a few hours of no contact, especially when they would know I was cutting trees. Four days? Dude, you might want to find some new peeps.



Says he lives alone.


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## dive_hive (Sep 6, 2020)

I saw this yesterday and thought he's either extremely lucky or has very little luck at all. Better be glad the ex didn't hold a grudge.


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## Ted Jenkins (Sep 6, 2020)

I do my best to let my family members know that I may not be back. After more than twenty years of racing they always say yeah well it has been great mostly that they take all this stuff for granted. At my wood cutting project I am not expected to return for three to six weeks. If I have snow during this time hiking the mile to get out with my cell does not always happen if I am tired. I however look forward and relish each moment at being in a beautiful secluded area with an abundance of wildlife. Thanks


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## Dutch tlh (Sep 6, 2020)

Quite a story. Made it to the Dutch radio and papers/ news sites. Glad the man survived.
Stay safe you all!


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## JTM (Sep 6, 2020)

ChoppyChoppy said:


> Says he lives alone.


Yeah, makes my comment pretty stupid. Makes me realize there’s a lot of folks on their own that can get incapacitated one way or the other and no one there to help.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Sep 6, 2020)

He's got to be one tough dude for sure. I can't even imagine the pain as well as well as not knowing if help will come.

Worst I had, couple years ago I decided to try to catch up on skidding logs, so I went out to our logging site on a Sunday by myself. Was a chilly day, maybe -10* or so.
Worked most of the day, and talked to some family on the phone while working.
Phone ends up going dead.
It's getting dark, figure I'll make another pull or two to clean up the bottom corner and head home.
I'm all the way at the bottom of the property and skidder suddenly stalls. Try to restart and nothing. Completely dead.

Lovely.

I was having a real hard time with my lungs at the time. Like walking from my car to the skidder had me gasping for air. Once I got in the skidder I was ok to work as I wasn't moving around much (grapple skidder).

I walked from the skidder to the landing, stopping every 40-50 ft to rest a few mins and catch my breath.

Of course uphill the whole way, thankfully the moon was out, so could see the skid trail well enough to not trip too often.
I was dressed reasonably warm thankfully, but was still getting cold.

Took me close to 2 hours to get to my car.
Whole time I'm walking, I'm hoping my car will start. It was cold enough that it's iffy (diesel). I had planned on boosting it with the skidder if needed.
I was at the point where my hands and feet were numb. Temp was dropping quickly.
Had the car not started, it would have been about a 1/2 mile walk to the nearest house... frostbite by then I'm sure.

It fired up thankfully.

Ended up skidder ran out of fuel and a battery randomly went bad. All the uphill pulling had went though WAY more fuel than usual.

Opened my eyes on how easy it is for things to line up and be in a bad situation!


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## Philbert (Sep 6, 2020)

It's always possible to have a cell phone in this type of situation, but have it out of reach when pinned, have it broken in the incident, or have no cell service where you are working. Not working alone is best. Letting people know where you will be, and when you expect to be back is a better than nothing option, as you could be gone by the time they find you. A lot of guys carry a whistle, which might help in some areas, especially, if people are looking for you.

Philbert


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## Ted Jenkins (Sep 6, 2020)

My last backup is a hand held 25 watt transceiver. I often have an extra charged power pack taped to it. It really has a multitude of channels so would be able to contact some air liner over head. It seems strange that I always seem to know when I am pushing the envelope of safety. I always think what it would be like to bleed twenty feet away from my pickup. As a result double checking every situation as far as what could go wrong. It has been a while since I tried to climb by my self. Thanks


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## Boostedude (Sep 9, 2020)

100 hours is a long time to reflect on your life...


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## LogSawyer74 (Sep 13, 2020)

Boostedude said:


> 100 hours is a long time to reflect on your life...



I’m really glad guy was alright, sounds like he is a pretty tough old fella. But sometimes I think 100 hours of life or death reflection would do all of us some good...


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## Tobystihl (Sep 13, 2020)

Hey, I think we can all learn from this poor guy, please stay safe out there!


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