Carpenter cuts off penis in "accident"

[randy (imported)]

Maybe we should send this to mythbusters ?

[jemagirl (imported)]

Maybe we should send this to mythbusters ?

But of course they will take the easy way out and use a pig analog.

[devi (imported)]

I once had to get a few stitches above my right knee after using a circular saw. What I remember is how everybody was just looking at me and I wasn't feeling a thing at all at the time. At least it wasn't very deep but it did cut me with such little effort.

[transward (imported)]

O.K. I'm a doubter and I think sooner or later he'll admit he did it on purpose and that being drunk was a good excuse. Let's consider a few things that have not been considered.

1 - Was he wearing pants or at least underwear? That would have kept his penis confined to a certain degree. Only if he was naked would the penis have been exposed and vulnerable to excision with the saw.

2 - When the penis is flaccid it shrinks and hides/retracts to a certain degree. It would not therefore have been protruding (sticking out) where the saw could easily slice it off.

3 - Alcohol not only affects the mind, it affects the penis. If he was/is a heavy drinker his ability to "get it up" was/is probably inhibited. His penis was again probably shrunk up.

4 - Alcohol can cause erections erections early on. Excerpt: "The effect of alcohol on the penis is twofold. The most important effect is on the brain which controls erection and orgasm. ‘Brewers drop’ is a result of this action. It can also affect the dilation of the blood vessels allowing the blood to escape from the penis instead of building up the pressure which produces the erection. In practice, a moderate amount of alcohol probably helps an erection either directly or centrally on your brain. Constant heavy drinking, however, can cause hardening of the arteries especially if you smoke as well. Your blood pressure remains high and this prevents a satisfactory erection taking place."

5 - If he had an erection, normal erections point drastically upwards. To cut the penis off the saw blade would have to have been purposely turned towards the body or erect penis sideways. Being drunk, yes that could have happened, but I think he would have disemboweled himself too.

6 - The usual size of normal saw blades are approx. 7 1/4 inches (correct me if I'm wrong). Yes, there are some newer smaller saws with smaller saw blades and this was England so no telling what size was being used. However, I can't believe that only the penis was cut off, there had to be some additional body damage and that's not discussed.

7 - Lastly, even though drunk, he used the excuse that he was working in his workshop. He therefore had some mental acuity, which makes me believe that he used drunkeness as an excuse to follow through with his hidden desire for a penectomy or perhaps being drunk gave him the courage to do it or made him delusional, but I think there was a hidden desire and in his drunken condition he was able to carry it out.

Comments please. I seriously doubt that his penis will work properly after this horrific dismemberment. Power saws do not leave clean cuts in human flesh, he probably will lose more than an inch or two in length. P.S. Who carried his penis to the hospital?

I understand your scepticism; if the penis is the only injury you are probably right. But sadly this is not a particularly rare occurence in emergency rooms.When I was in grad school, I worked swing swift as an OR orderly in a hospital. I remember a case similar to this. I brought the guy up to surgery and was talking with him. There is a very common maneuver in carpentry when you want to cut a piece of wood, you put it on a milk carton, or tool box or similar low raised surface with the part to be cut off overhanging. You then hold the wood down with your left foot, while bracing yourself with the other foot. In this position you have your legs spread, bending over with a circular saw in between. First thing they teach you is to support the cut off end because if you don't the weight of the end will flex down pinching and locking the blade and kicking the saw back at you. The retractable guard is supposed to protect you when this happens, but they don't always work fast enough, and a lot of idiots disable them when they get in the way. This happened to the guy and his crotch and leg were pretty chewed up. He kept saying "I knew better, but I was in a hurry." Afterward surgeons were sitting around telling horror stories. The operating Dr. said the patient would probably be able to pee standing up but it wasn't going to do him a lot more good than that. Other surgeons were trying to top him with stories of gruesome similar cases.

Transward

[randy (imported)]

The retractable guard is supposed to protect you when this happens, but they don't always work fast enough, and a lot of idiots disable them when they get in the way.

I personally like to use a wood shim for this.

[punkypink (imported)]

I once had to get a few stitches above my right knee after using a circular saw. What I remember is how everybody was just looking at me and I wasn't feeling a thing at all at the time. At least it wasn't very deep but it did cut me with such little effort.

This post REALLY made me cringe.

[Hash (imported)]

When I was in High School I was told to put up a cardboard display and given a utility knife. This was back in the day, 1974 or 75, I was 16/17, so nothing was perforated that I remember. Anyway, I had to make several cuts in the cardboard and not realizing how sharp the blade was, I made a cut pulling the knife towards my body. It was so quick. The knife went through the cardboard, through my jeans and into my thigh, I started bleeding heavily. They drove me to the hospital and I got at least five stitches. Fun stuff, not. So mistakes can be made, I understand, that's why I don't use power saws, I'm too klutzy.

[_g (imported)]

I never do the foot trick - always worth the time to find a horse or truck tail gate...

Have you sawed the tail gate??? as I have once but only once

_g

[kristoff]

Have you sawed the tail gate??? as I have once but only once

_g

No, but I've sawed a few power cords...

[coinflipper_21 (imported)]

I used to work in the wood shop at Pacific Game Company (Space tilt and other well known games) before they moved the entire production facility to Asia (Back in 1967!) and with the production volume they had you very quickly learned how to keep all body parts away from moving cutting surfaces (saws, mills, drills, sanders, etc). My neighbors, watching me work used to kid me about the "unnessary" precautions I take with power tools, that is until one of them, a professional roofer, nearly castrated himself with a circular saw. Happens all the time.