Punctured bicep on a stub

[trevmcrev]

Today going about things as normal, on my way up a Cedar Wattle i lent over a stem to tie of a branch when a spur slipped out. Quite a normal little slip, happens often and never a big deal. Only this time it put all my body weight onto my arm over this other stem and whammo, a small dead existing stub about the size of my thumb punctured into my bicep. Saw the blood on my shirt so zipped straight down on my lifeline. Shirt open, had a look, not pretty. Never had a cut before that let your fatty tissue spill out of. :censored: it hurt. Quick first aid job and off to hospital e.r. and they trimmed out the fat and sewed me back up.

So what went wrong. I ve thought about it and really just think in was just a bad coincidence. A small slip(woundnt have moved more than a foot) does happen without really doing anything too wrong. I were in lifeline & flipline. Just that freaking little stub being right there.

So what did i learn. Over 12 years and this is my worst injury, but its not really from what I'd call an accident. It just reminds me how dangerous this work can be. We're surrounded by machininery & equipment, and put in scenarios daily that have huge potential for serious injury. But even the small, seeminly insignificant things can bite us for very little reason.

Be SAFE every one.

 

[SilentElk]

Sounds like bad luck to me.

Not hijacking the thread but I almost died due to a similiar incident. Basically was 10 ft in a 24" tree and my foot slipped and I fell several inches or maybe a foot before my lanyard caught me. Normally you would think that isnt so bad, but what I failed to mention yet was the 6 inch old pointy willow stub that had tried to stick into the side of my neck. Got lucky and my neck was stronger than the stub was rottom on the inside so it pulled out. Was close. Just bad luck I would guess too. Been 70 ft in quite a few trees yet almost die on an easy one. Go figure.

 

[Ekka]

I got hammered by a stub the same way, slipped on the spurs and whammo up the gut with a stub.

Scar is still there today. On some trees it's near impossible to cut off all the stubs, you'd be there all day.

It's just one of those things.

So you had a natural liposuction! :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[sawn_penn]

I once embedded the end of a branch in my arm throwing a rope. That hurt. I guess it probably looked pretty stupid too.

 

[Tree Machine]

I did an Ekka once, too. Spiking up a dead, barkless locust tree. Thought as I was going up, "I should probably cut off that stub." but I climbed just past it and a spike slipped out. It didn't puncture my gut, but ya know that little tip of cartilage between the left and right side ribs, just below the chest muscles? Mine goes off at a different angle than yours.

I was thankful I was not impaled and hung there by my rib cage. The stupidest thing is I could see the potential of that to happen but chose to leave the stub there, even though I would eventually have to cut it off anyway.

Sorry bout your limbosuction, Trev.

 

[xander9727]

I had my hooks cut out a few years ago and slid about 5 feet down an elm. There was a stub that deeply bruised my left pectoral and evulsed my left nipple. It literally tore the whole left side of my shirt off the front of me and ripped my nipple half off. I do try and cut stubs when I see them. I'm especially cognizant of smaller pointed stubs.

 

[clearance]

I cut of the stubs always, always. When I first started climbing a guy told me he ran up a tree to top it (powerline removal, don't get excited), leaving stubs, making stubs. He was coming back down really fast when he came to a sudden stop, basically his nutsack was caught by a stub. I cringed just to hear this story, lesson learned, thankfully not on my own.

 

[Tree Machine]

A partial nipplectomy and a nutsack stretchioplasty.

 

[NOMOREGEARS]

Nasty Stub.

At least it didn't preforate your chest cavity. Hope you're back climbing soon. I would say you have a good track record even considering this happening. Live and learn.
Speaking of stubs, a friend of mine was bucking up a pine tree when he went to kick a stub off. Stub pierced his foot/ through the sole of his boot. Ever try to cut of a stub between the sole of a boot and the trunk of a tree? The saw noise drowned out his howls.
Get well soon dude.

 

[Adkpk]

I knelt on a rose stub that was under some English Ivy I was blowing leaves in.
Like this 1/2" wide thing with a diagonal cut on it. It went into the the joint so when I tried to get up my joint clamped on it. Luckily it was real cold out so I didn't feel a thing. I wrestled with my leg pinned to the ground for a while until I got it free. It got infected and hurt like hell for a week or so. It bothered my for years thought it would never go away. Like years. But lately, it hasn't bothered me. Some injuries take time but most do heel.