A man eagerly anticipating his first day at a new job suffered a life-altering accident, losing both of his legs. John O’Neill, a resident of Colorado, was only 15 minutes into his first shift as a tree worker on September 24 when he was caught in a woodchipper. The 33-year-old was feeding branches into the machine when the end of a branch snagged his tracking device, drawing his leg into the blades.
In moments, the spinning blades began cutt!ng through h!s legs, but his cries for help went unheard as his coworkers wore ear protectors. Gripping the edge of the woodchipper for his life, John’s colleagues eventually noticed the emergency. He later awoke in the hospital, realizing the extent of his injur!es.
“My heart stopped. They essentially replaced all the blood in my body,” John recounted to the Denver Post. “I was yell!ng for help, but everyone had ear protection on. It took a minute before my coworkers realized what was happening. I was fading out, but my coworkers kept me alive.”
He shared that the pain was surprisingly minimal at the moment, but he was acutely aware of the danger. “It went from a fight for my limb to a fight for my life, very fast,” he said.
As he clung to life, John thought of his loved ones and those who inspire him. “I thought of my mom and my friends and people who look up to me, and people who needed me,” he reflected.
Despite seeing his own torn sk!n and bones, John remained surprisingly calm. After rehabilitation, he plans to continue his charity work to help others achieve sobriety and pursue his passion for rock climbing.
“I feel like this has given me a bigger platform to help people in recovery from drvgs and alcohol and help people in recovery from traumatic events,” he said. “I’m not going to listen to anyone who tells me that’s impossible.”
John’s determination and resilience have been inspirational. “It’s beyond a miracle that John is still with us, and he’s fighting harder than ever,” wrote his friend George Safir on GoFundMe. “Our friend has always been pretty reckless and living life on the edge! All while doing so, being a warrior in life.”