John M BUNMAN
BUNMAN-Adventures, Rescue & Recovery
Chop-Off Finger Canyon…A look back at a Tragedy, with a happy outcome..
The Boss (X-Navigator) and I headed down to the Colorado River Saturday in our
New Hybrid Raptor R. As we neared the River the Maps and the pain in my finger reminded us of my finger almost being chopped off.
After visiting the River that fateful day, we headed back out of the Canyon. My wife says “Where does that Trail go? I replied, don’t know, I’ve never been down it. I thought it looked more like a Hiking Trail into a Slot Canyon….but that’s never stopped me before. I’ve shared this story before I think…but I can’t recall, your honor…lol
We head on in. It starts out about 2 Raptors wide, ok, no problem. We somehow negotiated our way through an “L” turn in the SLOT. We get about 1/4 mile past the “L” and in necks down to about 3’ of clearance….UH OHHH.. time to turn around. I know use the R on the shift thingy….except there is No Way I can back through the “L” turn. So let’s get errrr pointed in the other direction.
This turns into a 40 pt turn around. Halfway through, a bush/tree is keeping me from completing my About-Face, No worries, my other name is MACHETE, you may have seen my movie
It was one of those SLOW MOTION moments...I’m holding a branch with my left hand as the Machete arks downward towards the Large Branch.Halfway through my incredibly Powerful Swing ( I workout a lot) I see in my “Minds Eye”….Ummmmm that left hand is in a compromising position…TO LATE!
The Machete deflects off the Mfing Branch and of course, SINKS INTO MY MFING FUXK FINGER!!
The Blade Sinks into my finger to the bone. The only thing that saved me from completely Chopping My Finger Off was the Deflection, Blind Luck and the Grace of God!
Before I even looked, I knew it was trouble. I let out a loud and thunderous MFER!! My wife asks, “what happened”, she thought I hit the Raptor. I asked her to grab me a towel. I look at my finger and of course there is copious amounts of blood, with no end in sight. My wife grabs the towel, sees my finger and almost passes out, our daughters a nurse, wife, not so much..lol
Now I don’t mind blood, except when it’s mine…Mfing Fuxk!
Direct pressure, elevate finish chopping. Keep in mind, we are almost 3hrs to the hospital, back through a somewhat challenging Trail before we hit the hardball. It wasn’t time to cry for help, Activating SAR with my IN-REACH yet, but we were getting close.
I tied the towel around my finger with some 550 cord, keeping it elevated and somehow completed our exit from the Slot, making our way to the ER.
Lessons Learned?? None, I’d probably do the same Fning thing again…I’m still here only because God feels sorry for Dumb Azzszzzes
The Boss (X-Navigator) and I headed down to the Colorado River Saturday in our
New Hybrid Raptor R. As we neared the River the Maps and the pain in my finger reminded us of my finger almost being chopped off.
After visiting the River that fateful day, we headed back out of the Canyon. My wife says “Where does that Trail go? I replied, don’t know, I’ve never been down it. I thought it looked more like a Hiking Trail into a Slot Canyon….but that’s never stopped me before. I’ve shared this story before I think…but I can’t recall, your honor…lol
We head on in. It starts out about 2 Raptors wide, ok, no problem. We somehow negotiated our way through an “L” turn in the SLOT. We get about 1/4 mile past the “L” and in necks down to about 3’ of clearance….UH OHHH.. time to turn around. I know use the R on the shift thingy….except there is No Way I can back through the “L” turn. So let’s get errrr pointed in the other direction.
This turns into a 40 pt turn around. Halfway through, a bush/tree is keeping me from completing my About-Face, No worries, my other name is MACHETE, you may have seen my movie
It was one of those SLOW MOTION moments...I’m holding a branch with my left hand as the Machete arks downward towards the Large Branch.Halfway through my incredibly Powerful Swing ( I workout a lot) I see in my “Minds Eye”….Ummmmm that left hand is in a compromising position…TO LATE!
The Machete deflects off the Mfing Branch and of course, SINKS INTO MY MFING FUXK FINGER!!
The Blade Sinks into my finger to the bone. The only thing that saved me from completely Chopping My Finger Off was the Deflection, Blind Luck and the Grace of God!
Before I even looked, I knew it was trouble. I let out a loud and thunderous MFER!! My wife asks, “what happened”, she thought I hit the Raptor. I asked her to grab me a towel. I look at my finger and of course there is copious amounts of blood, with no end in sight. My wife grabs the towel, sees my finger and almost passes out, our daughters a nurse, wife, not so much..lol
Now I don’t mind blood, except when it’s mine…Mfing Fuxk!
Direct pressure, elevate finish chopping. Keep in mind, we are almost 3hrs to the hospital, back through a somewhat challenging Trail before we hit the hardball. It wasn’t time to cry for help, Activating SAR with my IN-REACH yet, but we were getting close.
I tied the towel around my finger with some 550 cord, keeping it elevated and somehow completed our exit from the Slot, making our way to the ER.
Lessons Learned?? None, I’d probably do the same Fning thing again…I’m still here only because God feels sorry for Dumb Azzszzzes
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