I guess he might not try this again...
West Hartford Man Tried To Cut Off His Own Arm
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY and JULIE STAGIS Hartford Courant, WEST HARTFORD — — Jonathan Metz was on the wet floor of his basement for two days, his left arm wedged under a furnace.
He was in and out of consciousness, but Metz, 31, knew what he had to do.
He had to cut his arm off.
Metz's arm was decaying from a lack of blood flow, going into a "gangrenous state," Dr. Scott Ellner, a trauma doctor at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, said Thursday. The infection couldn't be allowed to spread.
"It was the right thing to do," Ellner said. "This man saved his own life."
Ellner and another trauma doctor spoke during the press conference at St. Francis, where Metz was brought at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. He had been trapped in his basement for nearly three days before a concerned friend summoned police.
Metz had almost succeeded in cutting off his left arm below the shoulder, Ellner said; his rescuers had to complete the amputation. Doctors were not able to reattach the limb. They hope he can be fitted with a prosthetic arm.
Metz wasn't well enough to talk to reporters Thursday, but he has been alert and talking since his arrival at the hospital, staff members said. He still needs surgery that will include skin grafts, said Ellner and Dr. David Shapiro, Ellner's partner on the trauma team.
Metz was trying to replace a part on his furnace when the accident happened Sunday. Ellner declined to speak in detail about his patient's ordeal, but said Metz was in a low position, close to the basement floor.
He was able to drink some of the water that had leaked out of the boiler onto the basement floor, Ellner said.
By the second day, Metz knew his left arm was in bad shape. It began to smell, he later mentioned to the doctor.
He managed to put a tourniquet around his arm, and using whatever tools were within reach, he started cutting. He managed to cut through most of his arm, except for some fat, Ellner said.
"He's a young, healthy guy," Ellner said. "His strength is just so inspiring." Ellner said he never saw anything like this in his more than 10 years as a doctor.
Said Shapiro, "It's inspiring to see someone take their life into their own hands, quite literally." Click Here to read entire article.