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Post by admin on Jun 8, 2008 4:30:58 GMT
Hey guys, I recently received an email from a friend in the US who doesn't post on the forums but who had a story that deserves telling that he feels is worth sharing... [glow=red,2,300]...And REALLY drives it home as to why, whenever you do some cutting, you need to make SAFETY your top priority.[/glow]My friend was around 100 yards from his home, slicing a few wrist daimeter vines with his Generation 2 Gladius. After some satifying cutting, he took a final swing at a vine that turned out NOT to be fixed to a tree as he first assumed, and the follow through saw the blade sever his major calf muscle... Somehow he managed to make it back from the garden to the street, where as luck would have it two nurses were taking their morning walk. [glow=red,2,300]Long story short, over a gallon of blood lost later, emergency surgery and 55 (count 'em, fifty five) stiches later, this is the end result...[/glow]Moral of the story - safety must ALWAYS be paramount when cutting. At the most basic level:
- Never cut alone.
- Always have a first aid kit, a torniquet, bandages and a phone nearby (and know how to use them).
- Always think through and plan the angle of every cut before doing so.
- keep people and animals away from the arc of the sword in case you let go or something breaks.
[glow=red,2,300]Essentially, Assume the worst case scenario could happen every time, that your chances of minimizing it are greatly improved...[/glow]Have fun with swords yes, but NEVER forget - SAFETY FIRST! THREAD STICKIED- Paul
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Post by swordboy bringer of chaos on Jun 8, 2008 4:39:27 GMT
HOLY semprini!!! THAT HAS GOT TO SUCK
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 8, 2008 4:40:39 GMT
Ouch. Though I'm confused, if I recall, the average adult human body has roughly 10 pints of blood. There are two pints in a quart, so that's 5 quarts. Four quarts in a gallon leaves this guy with only two pints left in the guy? Was there some massive transfusion or is two pints, 1/5 average level, actually survivable? You even say "over" a gallon. That's a whole lot of blood. Oh well, guy's lucky to have his leg still. Any word on nerve damage/loss of feeling/movement?
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Post by swordboy bringer of chaos on Jun 8, 2008 4:46:43 GMT
I think the amount was exaggerated a bit as for nerve damage ... if I remember my basic anatomy the nerves are pretty deep and close to the bone ...... but damn that has got to hurt
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 4:58:21 GMT
Um, well this is another good reason to check your swing and not carry through the full range of motion. This reminds me of the bloke who was performing noto and put his iaito through his arm.
Also there is only 1.5 gallons of blood in the average human body.
Sword: looks pretty damn deep to me.
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Post by swordboy bringer of chaos on Jun 8, 2008 5:17:07 GMT
yeah ....... looks like he hit the femoral artery
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 6:09:56 GMT
It looks like a diagonal cut that travelled through it's full range of motion, bet that hurt!
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Post by swordboy bringer of chaos on Jun 8, 2008 6:20:48 GMT
yeah I've done some bone headed moves in my time but I bet the only thing worse than the physical injury is the un-yielding feeling of stupidity
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 6:21:40 GMT
Ouch, just imagine the damage if someone was actually AIMING at his leg...and I imagine a two handed sword would magnify the damage even more.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 6:27:09 GMT
If it were an assailant trained in the use of a longsword he would no longer have a leg.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 7:26:54 GMT
Paul This is very nasty & a good example to sticky. All the advice is good as regard cutting with with first aid kit & another person in attendance. I am just relieved that your friend survived & makes a full mobility recovery. After the fact comments are perhaps not helpful but this is not meant as derisory. Having done something equally unfortunate with a small arm decades ago, the lesson was life long (lucky for me) I can't help but think that vine cutting with a sword was just an accident waiting to happen. That stitched leg image will stay with me a while. Cheers
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 7:51:02 GMT
HOLY semprini!!! THAT HAS GOT TO SUCK I think that sums it up quite appropriately. Many, many thanks to whomever sent this info your way, Paul. It serves as grisly but very effective reminder that we are dealing with implements that were designed to inflict horrible damage upon the human body (and did/do so quite well). It's important that we be reminded of this every so often, just to keep us aware and safe. May the gentleman in the photo enjoy a speedy and trouble free recovery. Thanks again.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 8:14:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 8:19:14 GMT
Jeezus that's nasty. He's very VERY lucky that somebody got to him in time. Even if he ahd a phone and called 911, I don't think that an ambulance could have come fast enough before he bleed to death from that...at least unless he had a very good first aid kit and a very good healer near by.
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 8, 2008 8:24:21 GMT
Imagine the odds of finding two nurses just walking by. Guy's lucky as can be. Were it me, I'd probably crawl along with my leg in my mouth just far enough to die in agony in the middle of nowhere.
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Post by alvin on Jun 8, 2008 13:56:38 GMT
Great post Paul. Terrible thing to happen to your friend. I too hope that he has a successful recovery. But, it is an excellent reminder for all us who practice cuts of what swords are REALLY designed for!
I can imagine that there were quite a few guys lying on the battlefields with similar wounds after a little "get together" with Roman legionaries. The Gladius wasn't just for poking. From what I've read, leg wounds caused by cuts were some of the most common types of wounds. Especially when "shield wall" types of combat formations were used by one or both sides. But they didn't have EMS, doctors or passing nurses to assist them.
Again, thanks for the post.
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Post by YlliwCir on Jun 8, 2008 14:04:35 GMT
Thanks for the reminder, Paul. Whenever I see a post like this I realize how lucky I am to have my all my limbs. Safety first.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 14:16:16 GMT
Am I the only one who thinks, that is gonna be an awesom scar?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 14:40:55 GMT
No Sam, I was thinking I'd love the scar but not the pain or life threateningness associated with it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2008 18:17:45 GMT
First of all, I wish your friend a speedy recovery with a very important lesson learned. As far as blood loss goes, it is very likely that an entire gallon of blood was used while our vine-destroying friend was being sown up. After all, getting to the ER does not mean blood loss is immediately under control. The surgeons probably had to have new blood going in him throughout the whole procedure which very well may have taken a long time. I would like to point out that if you are ever injured in a sword-related (or any) accident, a tourniquet is the VERY LAST in a series of other steps you should take to control bleeding. This site has a halfway decent description of the steps one should take: firstaid.about.com/od/bleedingcontrol/ss/bleedingsteps.htmAs a sort of historical point - it's not hard to imagine injuries such as this one being fatal on the battlefield. Knocked unconscious and with a big cut like that - even to the leg - could cause death through blood loss or later, to infection. It makes me appreciate being alive in the 21st century.
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