Colorado tree worker loses both legs in wood chipper accident on first day of work

According to the Denver PostLast month, John O’Neill, 33, a tree worker from Colorado, was looking forward to his new job after getting sober after a stint in rehab. He was just 15 minutes into his first day when he was involved in a wood chipping accident that cost him both of his legs.

O’Neill described the freak accident while speaking to the outlet.

On the morning of September 24, O’Neill was working on the wood chipper, throwing branches into the machine. He said after putting a fishhook-shaped branch into the wood chipper, the branch’s hook flipped over in the machine before the wood got caught under his court-ordered ankle monitor and he was pulled into the wood chipper.

“Something happened in my brain and I realized I was afraid of much more than just losing my leg or foot,” O’Neill recalled, adding that he was holding on to the edge of the wood chipper.

“The pain was a lot – it was almost not there,” he continued. “I didn’t feel the pain as much because I knew I was in trouble. It went from a fight for my limbs to a fight for my life very quickly.”

As he held on, the machine’s blades began cutting him from his toes down – first his boots, then his feet, then his legs, down to his knees.

O’Neill said he was “screaming for help” but his colleagues couldn’t hear him at first because they were wearing ear defenders. “It took my colleagues a minute to realize what was going on,” he told the Denver Post.

The moment only lasted a few seconds, but by the time his colleagues were able to intervene and pull him out of the chipper, the knives had reached the middle of his thighs.

“I looked down and saw something that looked like what you see in movies,” O’Neill recalled, saying he saw skin, bones, arteries, muscles – and lots of blood.

“I didn’t freak out, I stayed calm,” he said. “My colleague said I was very cognitive the whole time.”

O’Neill said he and his colleagues fashioned a makeshift tourniquet with a rope, adding that he tried his best to slow his breathing so he wouldn’t lose consciousness.

“I was disappearing, but my colleagues kept me alive,” he told the Denver Post.

First responders arrived at the scene and O’Neill was flown to a local hospital. The outlet was told he “technically died” on the way there.

“My heart stopped. … They essentially replaced all the blood in my body,” he recalled.

O’Neill’s friend Garrett Safir founded one GoFundMe for him after his accident. The fundraiser has reached $25,000 of its $30,000 goal.

“John had a terrible accident at work and both of his legs were amputated above the knee. “It’s more than a miracle that John is still with us and he’s fighting harder than ever,” his friend wrote in the description. “John is very active in all sports, including some extreme sports! Our friend has always been pretty reckless and lived a life on the rocks! He was a warrior in life. A man with skills, ready for anything in life, even this new journey ahead of us.

“John is in very good spirits and ready to get back into climbing,” he added. “I am here today so that we can all show love and support to our boy and his family during this time. There are still many obstacles ahead of us, but we did it! All donated funds will be used for supplies, new housing, rehabilitation, equipment and day-to-day tools to make his new life a little easier.

On October 1, Safir posted an update on the GoFundMe page thanking everyone for their “love and support” and shared a photo of O’Neill flexing his biceps and smiling at the camera while sitting in a wheelchair.

“John is ruining his recovery faster than anyone else,” Safir said, later adding, “You guys are the reason he fights so hard!”

While speaking with The Denver Post, O’Neill shared his plans to get prosthetics and turn his terrible accident into something good. His mother, Barbara O’Neill, also told the outlet that in the second conversation she had with her son, he told her, “Mom, I’m going to be able to help so many people.”

After his time in rehab, O’Neill had worked with a Denver nonprofit, The Phoenix, that organizes sobering events and volunteered at West Pines Behavioral Health in Wheat Ridge.

“I feel like this has given me a bigger platform to help people recover from drugs and alcohol and recover from traumatic events,” he told The Denver Post.

“Those are the kind of goals I’m setting for myself to get back and I’m not going to listen to anyone who tells me it’s impossible,” he added. “I’m someone who can do things I’ve never done before.”

“This is new territory and I can’t wait to dive into it because I feel like life is about to get more exciting,” he concluded. “I have always enjoyed challenges.”

O’Neill did not disclose the name of the company he worked for or whether he planned to sue his employer. However, he blamed his ankle monitor, telling the Denver Post he “strongly believes” he could have freed himself from the device had he not been wearing the device.