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Thursday, October 2, 2003 - Oak Creek, WI
At the end of my shift (approx. 08:15) on Tuesday, September 30, 2003, I was clearing packages from the "boxline" to load into my UPS trucks when I suffered an injury accident.
Fortunately, I AM OKAY!!! Thanks to the tremendous outpouring of concern, support, and prayers, I sustained only bruises and I am healing quickly.
Here's how it happened: I was reaching into the back of the "cage" to get some small boxes out, to load into a delivery truck. I did not realize, however, that the set of cages that I was on was very close to the point where it turned around to go the other way. I felt the cage begin to turn and I immediately began to pull myself out.
However, my shoulders got wedged between the edge of the cage and a post/railing, and I heard a "pop" as my body was crushed between the equipment. There was a trip wire that stopped the boxline when I hit it, but the cage had too much momentum and couldn't stop in time to prevent my injury.
Once the machinery had stopped, I removed myself and, fearing the worst (not to mention feeling a H*LL of a lot of pain in my upper body), I crouched on the platform, moving as little as possible. Within minutes a manager walked by, and I told her to get me some help. More management swarmed around shortly, and the rescue squad was called.
I was strapped to a board and loaded into the ambulance, which took me to Froedert Hospital in Wauwatosa. It was a bit of a ride, and I kept asking the EMTs where we were, as I could not turn my head to look out the windows!
At the hospital, the nurses tried to take my blood pressure on my right arm, which had sustained the most damage, so I threatened to growl and possibly bite them, and told them to use the left arm. I think most of the emergency responders were happy to see that I still had a sense of humor about the incident. I also had x-rays taken, which showed that (surprisingly!) I had not broken or dislocated anything.
My left shoulder is bruised slightly, and I have two rather large lumps on my right thigh, apparently from hitting the trip-wire bracket. My right shoulder was hurt the worst, and I still have severe pain moving my right arm. The bruising goes all the way over to my collarbone, which is swollen. I have been taking Ibuprofen, which has allowed me to regain most mobility in my right arm, but I am still in a lot of pain. And I am now on light duty work for the next week at UPS while 2 or 3 people do the same work that I did myself!!!
More changes are forthcoming: the Safety guy at UPS talked to me this morning (10/2), and we discussed a few ways to make this area safer and prevent any further injuries. Hopefully this will never happen to ANYONE again!! (But of course I had to live through it...)
"God is my refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1) I thank God that my accident happened the way that it did, as it could have been much more serious than it was. I could have broken ribs had I been crushed further down, or I could have been killed had I been crushed further up. This was certainly a scary situation to find myself in, but I am not afraid of death, and death still fears me.
UPDATES:
My light duty ran out on October 15th. I started seeing Dr. Wilson Mburu at Racine Chiropractic in Racine on October 6th, and his goal is to get me all fixed up and ready to go back to work full-speed.
I have returned to work as of November 17 -- a full month after the last day I was at work! The railing/post that I was crushed against has been removed. I am still going through some therapy at Doc Wilson's, but I am tremendously happy to be back to work!! Sitting at home was beginning to get boring.
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