Miracle Colorado worker loses both legs in wood chipper freak accident on first day on job

A Colorado tree worker miraculously survived a freak accident with a wood chipper that left him losing both legs minutes into his first day on the job.John O’Neill, 33, fitted with a court-ordered ankle monitor, was throwing tree branches into the machine when one caught the tracking device and dragged him into the chipper, according to the Denver Post.O’Neill, who had battled addiction and is now sober and excited about his new job, had both legs amputated above his knee following the life-altering accident at 10:18 a.m.on Sept.

24.“It’s beyond a miracle that John is still with us, and he’s fighting harder than ever,” O’Neill’s friend George Safir wrote on GoFundMe.“Our friend has always been pretty reckless and living life on the edge! All while doing so, being a warrior in life.”Only 15 minutes into the workday in Longmont, O’Neill grabbed a fish hook-shaped branch and threw it into the machine.The end of the branch caught onto O’Neil’s ankle monitor and dragged his leg into the spinning blades where it began cutting into his toes, foot, ankle and legs.None of O’Neill’s coworkers immediately heard his cries for help as they were all wearing ear protection.“It took a minute before my coworkers realized what was happening,” O’Neill told the outlet.As the machine continued to eat into him, O’Neill began believing his time was ending.“Something happened in my brain to where I realized I was in fear for a lot more than just losing my leg or my foot,” O’Neill said.“The pain was very — it was not there almost,” he recalled.

“I didn’t really feel the pain as much as I knew I was in trouble.It went from a fight for my limb to a fight for my life, very fast.”O’Neill described the accident as “something that looked like what you see in movies,” as he saw skin, bones, muscle and a lot of blood coming out of his legs.O’Neill said remained as calm as possible to keep his heart rate down.“I didn’t freak out,...