Crushed like a Bug

I write this blog not to draw attention to my own stupidity, which is usually way to easily done without trying, but hopefully to help someone else avoid making a similar mistake.

Sometimes we get so complacent in the things we do everyday that we get careless.  I recently purchased a set of palate forks for my skid steer.  I tried to move a piece of steel pipe about 8" in diameter and 12' long.  I pushed one of the forks into the end and lifted, observing immediately that it was heavier than expected.  Evidently the pipe was full of dirt.  Things were going well until I hit a bump, which caused the pipe to bounce.  The increased weight put extra strain on the fork and bent the back plate which connects it to the skid steer.

I tried bending the back plate to its proper position by pushing the fork in the opposite direction against solid objects, like a large tree, but it didn't work. The plate is quarter inch steel and pretty rigid.  I tried a few other things that didn't work and finally decided that the best option was to put a wedge between the back plate and the place it connects to the skid steer and use the unit's hydraulics to squeeze it back into place. 

In order to do this I had to cheat the unit's safety system, something that I really know is kind of stupid.  They put such systems in place to protect stupid people from damaging themselves.  I did it anyway.  The seat switch that turns the machine off if you get up off the seat went bad a long time ago so I had by-passed it.  I started the machine and raised the safety bar and got out with the engine running.  I lowered the safety bar and pushed the button that activates the hydraulics so I could operate them from outside the cab.  Safety system effectively by-passed.

So, outside the machine I put a block of wood between the bent back plate and the plate it connects to.  Holding the block in place with my right hand I proceeded to reach inside the machine and operate the hydraulics with my left hand, which is the opposite hand normally used for that purpose.  As you can see I was build a recipe for disaster.  I activated the hydraulics a couple of times, not having the desired effect to bend the plate back into shape, but somehow the block of wood slipped. Because I was operating the controls left handed my reaction time was slow and my right hand got squeezed between the plates where the block of wood had been.

I'm sure I have not experienced a lot of pain in my life, but I don't remember ever experiencing pain like I felt having my hand crushed between those two steel plates.  There are a lot of nerve endings in the hands and fingers, and everyone of them was screaming in my right hand.  I think I almost passed out from the initial wave of pain, but maintained enough presence to reverse the hydraulics and release my hand from the machine's death grip.  For a few moments I thought every bone in my hand was broken.  The intense pain throbbed mercilessly for a few minutes, then slowly subsided to the point I could cuss. Amazingly, I didn't use any bad words, and mostly berated myself for doing something so obviously dangerous.

Luckily, it was a chilly day and I was wearing a winter glove with heavy lining which I believe, along with divine intervention, helped prevent more serious injury.  After letting the pain subsided to a manageable level, with my hand hanging at my side I put the skid steer away and went to the house.
When I removed the glove I discovered that the skin had not been broken and there was no external bleeding, but the hand was becoming scarlet and swollen. Within a few hours my hand looked like it belonged to Mickey Mouse.

Wrapping this up, I had an x-ray taken a few days later and the PA that treated me said I was really lucky because there were no broken bones.  That was hard to believe, but steeling myself against the pain I could move all my fingers and all the joints worked. It took about six weeks before I had much use of the hand, and I got fairly good at doing things with my left.  It has now been about four months and it is mostly recovered.  There is still some pain in the joints of my fingers, especially first thing in the morning, and some in my wrist when I bend it in certain positions.  My little finger still won't bend all the way, but hopefully with time and therapy it will return to normal.  I also don't have full strength in my grip or in the use of the wrist, but that is slowly improving.

So, in summary, I made a stupid mistake and I paid for it.  I have always thought of myself as one who can foresee trouble and accidents and therefore avoid them, but even so by getting a little too comfortable and complacent I failed to prevent this one.  Obviously even obsessive-compulsive behavior can't prevent all accidents, and I wouldn't want to go through life keeping myself in a protective bubble, but I have made a promise to myself to be more careful and to try to avoid getting so comfortable in every day activities that caution flees.