The first item describes an incident that was not reported in TCI Magazine’s “Accident Briefs” when it occurred in 2020.
Two injured when rope feeds into chipper
Two tree workers were injured when a climbing or rigging rope was accidentally fed into a chipper during or prior to November 2020 in Easton, Maryland.
A man was in his home when he heard “a horrific grinding noise and screaming.” Outside, where a tree crew was cleaning up trees damaged in storms earlier that summer, he saw a woman hunched over in the bucket of an aerial lift, a man wailing hysterically and another man on the ground near the intake chute of a chipper with a rope tangled around him.
The witness, a registered nurse with Army combat medic training, used towels to staunch the bleeding of the man on the ground, stabilized him and, with help from others, moved him away from the chipper.
A neighbor had called 911, and an ambulance soon arrived.
The woman in the bucket had a serious gash from the rope, but no other details on the condition of the two victims were included in the November 23, 2020, globenewswire.com report.
Man dies after pinned by cut tree
A tree worker was killed November 3, 2021, after becoming pinned under a large tree in Henrico County, Virginia.
Roberto LaMotte, 45, was working for a tree care company attempting to remove a 50-foot-tall tree at a private property when he became trapped under the cut tree. He died at the scene while first responders worked to rescue him from under the tree.
A private crane company was called in to help safely remove the tree and retrieve the victim, according to a WRIC-TV report.
Tree worker severely hurt in struck-by
A tree worker was struck by a large trunk/limb and seriously injured while cutting a tree November 21, 2021, in Alton, Illinois.
Durondo Phillips was cutting a large trunk or limb when it broke off and hit his left side, including his head, which resulted in scalping, a severe left-eye injury and neck and spinal injuries. He was flown to a St. Louis hospital after the accident, where he underwent multiple surgeries and blood transfusions.
Phillips, who is deaf, has since been released from the hospital and is now recovering at home. He has no brain injuries or paralysis, but still faces multiple surgeries, along with significant physical therapy. It is speculated it may take him a year to recover. A Gofundme page has been set up for the family, according to a riverbender.com report.
Teen injured doing tree work
A teenage boy was severely injured while cutting trees and clearing brush November 29, 2021, in Como, Texas.
Koby Crump, 17, of Como-Pickton, Texas, was taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where he later underwent surgery for a spinal injury.
Crump, a junior at Como-Pickton High School and a volunteer firefighter, suffered extensive damage to his spine, according to a frontporchnewstexas.com report.
