Yesterday one of Clint's employess cut off his thumb. I can't stop thinking about it. I feel so horrible. I know it's not my fault, but I feel so...responsible. He was on our job, working for our company. I feel so badly for him. He's only about twenty three, and now the rest of his life will be altered.
They couldn't reattach it. Clint had to take the saw apart to get the thumb out, but the blade had damaged it too much for it to be useable. Clint was amazing. He handled the whole thing so well. While his other workers were still thinking the whole thing was a joke, Clint was doing everything he could. He determined that the thumb had been sucked up into the saw, cut the cord to the saw, grabbed the saw and Jason, and drove him to Kadlec. He kept his cool when another driver, angry that Clint had passed him illegallly, followed him on the freeway, passed him, and cut him off. He kept his cool at the hospital, where he turned Jason over to their personnel and then immediately started taking the saw apart so he could retrieve the thumb without damaging it. He kept his cool when the nurse took one look at the thumb and said "Oh that's no good; there's no point in putting it on ice." Clint insisted she put it on ice anyway until the orthopedic surgeon could make a determination. He even kept it together when the surgeon pulled him aside and examined the thumb with him in detail, showing him why it was unlikely that they would be able to reattach it.
Jason is recovering well. He's trying to adjust to the situation. He's thinking about things he loves to do that will be more difficult, like motorcyling. The only small mercy is that it was his left thumb. He's right handed.
We need to get out of this business.
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Thoughts on Life
4 comments:
HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP!!!!!!
I can't believe I saw you last night and you didn't mention this!
We have GOT to get together for longer than 5 minutes at a time.
Wow, Clint Rocks!
It just didn't seem like the time to bring it up. But I think about it constantly...although probably not as much as Jason does.
We're trying to figure out now how we can help...but our business doesn't exactly squeeze out a huge profit, just enough to keep the creditors away. I guess that's why we pay $3 an hour to L & I for industrial insurance. Our bill for this quarter will be $11,300. They will pay his wage at 80%, I think, plus he will get a sizeable lump sum for permanent loss of a body part. Not that that will make up for it.
Yes, but did you see the article in the paper today about the guy training to be an airplane mechanic who only has one hand? Granted, he's been that way since birth, but after the initial adjustment period there's not a lot that one can't do without one thumb. When I used to work down at the gas station by the park we had a lot of construction guys as customers and I was stratled how many were missing fingers and thumbs and were still working in construction! It's sad but it happens and if he has a good attitude he will probably be just fine.
I'm sorry you have to deal with this. It is not your fault! Kudos to Clint for staying calm and doing his best to save the thumb. Amazing!
I'm sorry for Jason too. Just the other day, Pat was watching a really old movie (before audio tracks) in which a guy with a double thumb who pretended to have no arms cut off both arms with the goal of winning a woman's love. Alas, it did not work.
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