Man who lost both of his arms in accident managed to get them reattached after calling 911 with a pencil
One man's incredible quick thinking and bravery after a horrifying accident meant he kept both arms
It's the stuff of nightmares; being alone when a terrible accident happens with nobody to help.
One man's quick thinking meant he was able to have both of his arms reattached, after a horror accident on a farm in North Dakota.
In 1992, teenager John Thompson was by himself when he got into an accident with a tractor, causing him to lose both arms.
Despite the terrible odds against him, John managed to stagger 100 yards to the house to try and get help.
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He used his mouth to open the doorknob and make his way inside.
Unable to dial a phone the usual way after his limbs had been chopped off, the distraught teen miraculously had the presence of mind to get hold of a pencil in his mouth.
Using the pencil, he was able to call his cousin who lived nearby in an attempt to get help.
He then recalls going into the bathroom so he didn't bleed all over his mother's carpet.
Against all odds, Thompson survived and managed to have both arms reattached, during a painstaking six hours of surgery.
More than 30 years after the accident, he can still remember every detail of what happened.
He told a documentary about how his shirt tails got caught in the shaft of the machine, and he reached to free himself.
"It got wrapped in with the power shaft. The next thing I know, everything is dark and I'm feeling funny."
He woke to his dog licking his face, and soon realised that he had lost both arms from just below the shoulder.
“I’m just lying there on the stretcher and thinking ‘Why don’t they have the sirens turned on.’ And so I was complaining about that because they didn’t want to excite me and I’m like ‘well just turn the siren on.’ And then I remember the one gal who was with me in the back looked and told the guy to slow down. And I’m like ‘Ok, I have no arms, don’t slow the ambulance down just get me there,’” said Thompson.
In the decades since the incident, Thompson has reflected on the fame and notoriety he found.
“That was probably the hardest thing I had to deal with, was the notoriety,” he said.
"I keep trying to get away from it, but I have nowhere else to go, so I just keep going back to it. I can't find nothing else," he said. "I try doing other things and they just haven't worked out. It always comes back to people knowing me and wanting to use me."
He told the Star Tribune: "I keep trying to get away from it, but I have nowhere else to go, so I just keep going back to it. I can't find nothing else," he said.
"I try doing other things and they just haven't worked out. It always comes back to people knowing me and wanting to use me."
Nowadays he can flex his arms, but his hands are stuck with clenched fists unless he manually opens them.
His surgeon has offered prosthetic hands to help with his mobility, but Thompson says he has adapted and doesn't want to lose his sense of touch.
"They said, 'This is Oprah Winfrey,' " he said. "Good, this is John Thompson. I'm not canceling. I gave these people my word.
"I'd like to see what would happen to you if you're 18 and you get thrown into all this. I'm damned impressed with what I've done."
Jen Thomas