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Help from the HTA &

Trimmers Within

Mitch Ackerman

This is my story of when I was severely injured on arms to get someone attention. No one saw the
May 3, 2020 and the help that followed. accident happen and I was not sure if the chainsaw got
me or the tree. I looked over and the
I volunteered to help clear
chainsaw was still running so I reached over
some trees at my brother’s
and shut the chainsaw off and put my head
house in exchanged for a
down. Some members of the group saw me
BBQ supper that night. We
waving my arms and came over to see if they
as a group started working
could help me but I told them that I needed to
around 10:30 in the
stay put as I was bleeding from the face area
morning and needed to
and I wanted the blood to go to the ground
clear out some trees that
and not down my throat. I started to feel my
were growing around an old
face and knew that the left side was injured
barn that he wanted to tear
badly. I knew that my eye socket was broken
down. I was in charge of
along with my cheek area crushed in. I also
falling the trees as I had 30
felt my upper jaw area was loose and broken. I
plus years of chain sawing
then figured that my lower jaw was broken
experience under my belt. I
also.
felled all the trees, around
60-65 of them. Most of them were less than 5 inches We decide or someone decide that we needed to call an
round but had some larger ones also. I had all the ambulance to take me to the hospital and that I could
trees on the ground and separated from the tree trunk not be taken in with a personal vehicle. At the
except one. hospital, they did a quick cat scan of my head and two
doctors came in and told me it was bad. I ended up
Around 1pm, I worked on one very large tree was
having two surgeries to fix my face with both eye
growing out from under the footing of the barn at a
sockets being broken, all sinus area being crushed in,
45 degree angle. I notched the underside of the tree
the left upper jaw broken, and both sides of my lower
and cut above the notched to fall the tree. However,
jaw broken.
the tree did not separate from the tree trunk but was
on the ground. We as a group started to trim all trees I ended up in the hospital for 5 nights, 6 day with 3
that we on the ground and I worked on the above days in the ICU. I had no visitors due to Covid-19.
stated tree. I was trimming the large branches on this They ended up putting in 6 plates in my face and wired
one tree and cut a pressure branch. The tree spun and my jaw shut. I went home and went downstairs to be
did a 180 spin with me being hit in the head from a in a darker place and find a nice recliner to live on for
large branch from the other side of the tree. the next 3 weeks.

I fell to the ground and got to my knees, waving my I posted on WOHT and my Facebook page asking for

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