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Tree Trimmer's Arm Nearly Severed in Chainsaw Accident, Then Climbs Down Tree Himself

CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) - He performed his own one-armed rescue, after a chainsaw accident in a tree left his other arm almost completely severed.

Now a tree trimmer is recovering in the hospital after the job went horribly wrong in Citrus Heights.

Neighbors Kevin and Sharon White described the gutsy moves they watched of the tree trimmer in trouble. They saw one of his colleagues climb up and give him a tourniquet after an accident left one of his arms nearly severed by his own chainsaw.

"The other guy was just getting to him," Kevin White said," the neighbor said, 'he's gonna try to tie off,' give him a tourniquet of some sort and I just saw the motion through the branches."

"And then next thing we know we saw him lowering himself, you know, I can't imagine doing it one-handed."

Dispatch audio describes Sac Metro Fire crews responding to the 911 calls for help with a ladder truck preparing for an aerial rescue.

Sac Metro Fire: "…if we've got this guy 50 feet up in the air, I know we've got a couple rescues coming, we might want to start truck 23 just for the aerial…"

Sac Metro Fire: "…apparently he is awake and conscious…ahh…it looks like about 50, 60 feet up in the air…"

As firefighters started arriving, they watched the tree trimmer make his own one-armed descent down, by himself.

Sac Metro Fire: "…make sure we keep the street clear for 23 ….if we got 'lookie-loos' anybody pulling up lets make sure we keep that area clear…"

The Whites saw the man once he made it to the ground, covered in blood.

"Yeah he was conscious, he was sitting up on the ambulance gurney, he had his arm up and he was holding pressure on his own," Kevin White said.

Sac Metro Fire reports the worker is employed by Anderson Tree Company. Sac Metro is required to file a workplace safety report with Cal Osha. A search for previous safety violations at the company did not turn up any citations.

One tough tree trimmer left with only one good arm. Once out of the hospital he'll have a survival story with the scars to prove it.

"And I hope his family's ok with everything that's happened but I know it's traumatic," Sharon White said.

"He came down on his own," Kevin White said. "It was pretty amazing."

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