Trapped, He Cut His Own Leg Off

A Pennsylvania man clearing timber amputated part of his own leg with a pocket knife yesterday to escape from beneath a fallen tree.

Donald Wyman, 37, of New Bethlehem, Pa., told emergency workers that he cut off a portion of his left leg about six inches below the knee.

Wyman made the decision after he found he was unable to move the tree, which had a trunk 2 feet in diameter, said Martin Palmer, chief of the Oliver Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Wyman was listed in fair condition today at Punxsutawney Hospital in Punxsutawney, a hospital spokeswoman said. Doctors were considering whether to attempt reattaching the leg, which firefighters recovered after Wyman told them where it was.

Palmer said Wyman was clearing timber for a coal company in a rural area outside the village of Worthville.

After becoming pinned under the tree, Wyman made a tourniquet out of rawhide - probably his bootlaces - and used his chainsaw wrench to tighten it as he proceeded to cut off his lower leg.

"He was pretty smart. He knew exactly what he was doing," Palmer said.

After removing his leg, Wyman crawled to a bulldozer 500 feet away and managed to drive it about 2,000 feet to where his pickup truck was parked.

He got into the pickup and drove about two miles to a farmhouse. "He was so sharp and mentally strong," said farmer John Huber Jr., who called paramedics at 5:21 p.m.

Wyman told Huber he screamed in vain for an hour and tried to dig his leg out from under the tree before he decided he would have to amputate the leg to free himself.

Wyman remained conscious throughout the ordeal, Palmer said. "I didn't figure we would ever have a call like that," he said. "I've heard of this happening, but never around here."

Because the area is so remote, Wyman could have been trapped for hours before anyone realized he was missing, the fire chief said.

"People work alone up here. Probably before anybody would notice he was missing, it would be late (last night) at the earliest," Palmer said.

Palmer said the tree was so large that firefighters had to use chain saws to cut it into pieces before extracting the leg.

They packed the leg in ice, saline solution and plastic bags and took it to the hospital.