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May 28, 2008 6:03 pm US/Central
Man Recovering After Tree Branch Impales Leg
(WCCO)
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The branch ended up in his leg after Skattum and his brother crashed their golf cart on a path near their father's place in Aitkin, Minn.
CBS
Josh
Skattum had a memorable Memorial Day weekend. The 24-year-old from Sartell went
for a ride in a golf-cart with his 16-year-old brother, Brett, and ended up
with a 3-foot oak branch sticking out of his leg.
"It
was from about where my foot is, coming up at an angle," Skattum said, "and
2 feet of the branch in my leg that was 3 inches in diameter. That was going
all the way through to my hip."
The
branch ended up in his leg after Skattum and his brother crashed their golf
cart on a path near their father's place in Aitkin, Minn.
Surprisingly, he felt more pressure than pain.
"When
you're in shock ... you don't feel the pain that you should feel," he said. "So
initially, there wasn't a whole lot of pain."
Josh
learned how serious it was when emergency workers arrived and he was airlifted
to the Twin Cities where doctors at the Hennepin County
Medical Center
needed to call for a hacksaw to trim the excess wood away from his leg.
"Actually,
when he was going to sleep is when we actually called maintenance to see what sort of tools they had," said Dr. Jon Krook, an HCMC surgeon. "We
actually tried some of our tools that we use to cut bone, but apparently oak is
a bit more tough than bone."
Krook
said this could have been a much more serious injury. Skattum would have
died if the branch hadn't just missed his femoral artery.
"About
that far away from it," he said, holding his fingers about an inch
apart. "Obviously it had enough force to go through the floor of a
golf cart and through his leg, so it would have easily had enough to tear that
to pieces."
Skattum
is recovering from three surgeries and plans to keep the branch that nearly
killed him.
"His
dad said, 'You know, keep that branch,'" said Skattums' wife Becky, "We'll
make a walking stick out of it, and we'll say 'Take that branch! I won.'"
Skattum
will get out of the hospital on Monday or Tuesday, but Monday is his
goal. That's when his son Zachary turns 3-months-old.
Friends
have set up a fund for the family at a St. Cloud bank. If you would like
to contribute, send it to:
The
Benefit of Josh Skattum
c/o St. Cloud
Federal Credit Union
3030 1st Street South
St. Cloud, MN 56301
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