On Friday Aug. 12th around midnight I rolled my UTV on it's side. Making a left hand turn at night under NVGs, I swung a bit wide and caught the wheels in a rut that tipped us. Not going fast enough to roll, just enough that we tipped over on the drivers side and my left hand was crushed, de-gloved, & severely mangled. My hand was not pinned under the UTV. I broke my passengers fall and he was unhurt but for a stiff shoulder.

Most likely cause was speed & loss of depth perception driving with a single tube PVS-14.

We were being followed by a friend & his wife in their UTV. I was able to immediately get the UTV turned off and we assessed for injury and that was when I first saw my hand was AFU. But, I could move all of my fingers, my wrist, & there was no massive hemorrhaging. all good signs. They got my UTV righted, started, and some things picked up and off we drove to my place, about 3 miles.

At my place we grabbed some clean towels, ice packs & loaded into my 4runner for the 1.5hr drive to the ER. Both friends who were with me made the trip and my friends wife stayed to help my wife not get freaked out more. There was always the opportunity to call an ambulance once we got to the pavement highway, but my friends know the roads better than local EMS so the sensible thing based on triage was to just go!

Assessment at ER was that I needed to go to level 1 trauma care with a reconstructive hand specialist. ER Doc called around the state and made arrangements. A short ambulance ride -> short airplane ride -> ambulance and I arrived at Flagstaff Medical Center and got in line for surgery based on their current triage & priorities. Went to surgery about 3pm (approx 15hrs post accident). Stayed overnight and was released the next day around noon.

Same friends made the 1 way 4hr drive to pick me up and got me home. Another friend drove me on Wed. the 17th to Flagstaff round trip for 1st follow up.

The skin on the palm has blood flowing, is re-attaching, and I wont need skin graphs. No nerve damage. Only the bones in the hand were affected. Currently wearing 8 new stainless steel inserts that are predicted to come out at the 4-6 week mark along with the stitches. Prognosis is 8-12 weeks full recovery with some minor grip limit due to scaring/scare tissue development. Awesome doc did the surgery and have his awesome partner in practice as my follow up doc. Understands my living situation and gave me his personal PH# in case I need anything in between weekly visits for the 1st 6 weeks. Recovery is already going well and doc stated that after 4 days it looked like it was closer to 10 day post accident and healing faster than expected. Super happy with the healing process.

Of course the #1 lesson is, don't be a dumb ass. I could have averted this. It may have been a well moonlit night, but just 5 mph slower and I wouldn't be typing one handed. My friends were awesome, cool, calm, & collected. Triaged, made a plan, & executed. No questions asked they got it done & made shit happen. Then after they got me to ER they came home and took care of my spouse for two days.

The key for those who don't know, I live 20 miles from pavement, the first ER I was at is a town of about 2000.
Nothing off grid in the middle of nowhere is easy, this was a very bad situation and my friends did the things that made a difference to turn it around and get going in the right direction. same friends are driving me to follow ups and helping my wife around the ranch. I can't ask for this to be going better all things considered.

Going to have some catching up to do by winter, but we'll git-r-dun.



Pre surgery





5 days post surgery

Jeez David, glad you've gotten help and are healing. Hope it heals without much PT.

Yep, we are very aware out in the boonies that help......well, it is at least....a half hour away. Rattlesnake bites, broken bones, heart problems, are going to take some time. We all try to prepare for such things, but accidents happen.

Hope you heal fast bud. Email or call any time.

Hope you heal fast! I hope that there is minimal pain. Good luck.

ARman

Yikes!

Hope it goes well.

Yowser! Glad your friends were right there!

Lord have mercy! I don’t have the stomach.

Ouch! I bet you'll never forget what your 2,000th post was about.

Hopefully it heals well and there are no after effects.

Was your left the nondominant hand?

Thank God everything went as well as it did and you didn't get hurt worse.

Good thoughts and prayers for complete and complication-free healing.

quote:

Originally posted by bigpond73:
Jeez David, glad you've gotten help and are healing. Hope it heals without much PT.

Yep, we are very aware out in the boonies that help......well, it is at least....a half hour away. Rattlesnake bites, broken bones, heart problems, are going to take some time. We all try to prepare for such things, but accidents happen.

Hope you heal fast bud. Email or call any time.

Yea man, small things get big real quick if you aren't ready.

quote:

Originally posted by ARman:
Hope you heal fast! I hope that there is minimal pain. Good luck.

ARman

No real pain. just a massive amount of discomfort. can’t get a comfy position without something feeling tight, burning, or otherwise pinching as the swelling and things change.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
Yikes!

Hope it goes well.

Thanks, so far so good!

quote:

Originally posted by tigereye313:
Yowser! Glad your friends were right there!

They’ll never buy drinks or dinner again in my presence!

Assholes actually put on fake intake paperwork that it was a masterbatory incident, that i had been doing 3 or 4 kinds of drugs, and have an unknown amount of STDs. They didn'y hand it in, but asked me to sign & make sure everything was correct . love those fuckers

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Ouch! I bet you'll never forget what your 2,000th post was about.

Hopefully it heals well and there are no after effects.

Ha, didn’t even notice. Doc has a good prognosis & i am a firm believer in a healthy attitude.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Was your left the nondominant hand?

Thankfully, no. still a pita to be 1 handed for the moment.

Oh no! Not the wiping hand...


Glad you and others have heads on straight.

Them friends are pearls!

Damn David. Hard to say it. But lucky you are. Good friends helping make good quick decisions. Excellent care. All in all. You are lucky brother.

Prayers sent. I have been thinking of you and you and your family are and have been in my nightly prayers for some time. He answered them and I am so grateful.

Make a full recovery. I will call you in a couple of weeks when you feel better. You know you can call me anytime. Take care brother!

Well, dad always said, if you're going to do something, do it right. Aaaaaaannnnddd...you did.

Happy you got some good care and a good prognosis. It makes me feel a bit like a pussy for complaining about the finger I tried to cut off with a Sawzall.

Holy shit. I’m glad you’re on the mend. It could have been a lot worse.

That looks nasty. Keep us updated on your recovery.

So was it the ATV crushing the hand that made it de glove/avulse ? Or did you get it stuck under the ATV (i assume a four wheeler) and you and your body kept moving causing the injury?

Just morbid curiosity…I was an EMT as a side job when I was in the CG.

Looks like you are healing well

Ouch! Glad it is working out as you described and congrats on having friends that don't soil themselves when things get scratchy. Best to you.

Wow! That is impressive. Glad you're on the mend, and that you were able to get to a trauma center in a reasonable time frame. Good luck with the recovery.

Dang dude, you messed that up big time. Hope it heals up properly.

Chicks dig scars.