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Caddy
Trad climber
Folsom, CA
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Oct 16, 2010 - 12:09am PT
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John,
Glad you you get to keep both of your thumbs so you can text. That would be a real bummer. Having Aid climbed with you before I have seen you grab cams directly to get a really high step in the last loop of the aider. I suspect your thumb went in between the trigger cable of the small cam you were placing. When you fell it sliced the thumb off like the cable used to kill Luca Brasi in the movie "The Godfather".
You should ask for donated SF Giants playoff tickets to be given to your rescuers (Me and Matt) for doing such a great job. Maybe you can throw the first pitch. Just don't throw too hard.
Curt Taras
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valygrl
climber
Boulder, CO
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Oct 16, 2010 - 12:32am PT
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Jesus. Glad you got it reattached.
I lost the tip of my pinky in a stupid off-route-on-4th-class-dirt trail-finding error in cathedral gully. Not reattached.
I won't be coming back to this thread b/c I don't want to see any pictures, but heal fast.
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
The land of Fruits & Nuts!
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Oct 16, 2010 - 03:10am PT
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Holy Sh1t John, from your emails I understood it to be someone else who was climbing with Matt that lost their digit. I had no idea it was you.
If I were to have an accident on the big stone, there are few people I know with the skills and a cool enough head to fully trust to help get me down in a timely fashion. Matt is definitely one of them. Glad you were in good hands with both Matt and Curt.
Here's to a successful, full recovery.
Chad...
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Grogin
Trad climber
Utah
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Oct 18, 2010 - 01:38pm PT
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Hi John,
My son, Logan, and I were fixing ropes down from Sickle when you fell, and we heard and saw your fall. "I've lost my thumb" took a few seconds to sink in. I was hoping it meant something else, like maybe you had a favorite stopper you called your thumb, but you clarified the statement for your partner with all the grisly details, and it became clear what had happened. After the fall and initial shock you sounded amazingly calm and stoic. You gotta be one tough dude! I got down first and when your buddy asked me to help look for it, my reaction was "we are never going to find this needle in a haystack." Fortunately when Logan got down he thought "I'll find it. I can find it because I always find crazy stuff." Sure enough he did. He says he saw the grisly end first and knew immediately what it was. Your buddy scooped it up with a nalgene bottle filled with water.
We are glad to hear that they were able to reattach it and hope that it is fully functional soon. Write us and let us know how things are going.
George
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Oct 18, 2010 - 02:29pm PT
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a friend of mine cut off his thumb with a bandsaw, many years ago, and had it surgically reattached. that was 30 years ago, and the surgery is far more advanced now.
best of luck with yr recovery.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Oct 18, 2010 - 05:17pm PT
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Get well soon and thanks for sharing your story.
A couple classic lines:
I then looked down to see the end of my thumb falling down 400 feet to the bottom.
If, after using the swab, the bleeding isn't adequate, a leech is placed on the hole and the leech removes the blood while cleaning the hole. It also emits an anticoagulent that increases blood floow.
Maybe we shouldn't just put leeches on everything. This could lead to advances in all sciences and... naahhhh!!
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johnr9q
Sport climber
Sacramento, Ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2010 - 11:39am PT
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George and Logan: Thanks for even looking for my thumb but to find it is just amazing. George, my thoughts were like yours, why look cause there is a zero chance of finding it but Logan didn't think that way, and found it. His attitude of always being able to find "crazy stuff" was a huge benefit in my case. We did see you guys ahead of us and my partner observed you the next day making good time free climbing above Dolt tower. I am home now and everything is progressing well. The doctors that reattached this take this real seriously and won't allow you to get out of bed for any reason for the first 5 days. I am now up some but have to keep it above my head when I am. Most of the time I am reclining.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Wow - the things you miss reading when you're on the wall!
So how's it goin'? Is it still attached?
Anyway, if you're ever in Yosemite, and see my driving by, and need a ride, well, you know what to do....
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, john... now that this was bumped... i too, am wondeing how you are doing...
the things was a real neat "miracle save" for sure...
god bless...
post, soon as you can...
:)
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Aya K
Trad climber
New York
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holy cow!!! how did they find your thumb?!!!
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pk_davidson
Trad climber
Albuquerque, NM
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Here's to a speedy recovery.
You'll be back climbing sooner than you think...
There are a number of digit-ally challenged climbers out there who end up climbing just as much post-trauma as pre and with no real ill effects.
So hang in there.
I lost my thumb tip to a table saw. Back then, limb re-attachment surgery was not really in the cards, especially since the dog thought fresh meat made for a special treat.
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tonesfrommars
Trad climber
California
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ellingwood, was that really necessary?
sorry about your hand.
Wishing both of you a full and smooth recovery.
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Gorn
Trad climber
las vegas, NV
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Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope the thumb attachment allows you full use again. Here's a story your might relate to:
I was climbing with two friends in Zion back in the early 90's on Space Shot when my friend was aiding the third pitch. He had placed a nut above him in the thin crack and clipped the lead rope. Then, as he held onto the carabiner connected to that piece with one hand, he was reaching down with the other to unclip his etrier when the nut pulled. He fell to the next piece, and when the rope went tight, two of his fingers were caught in a loop of rope over them against the biner. The two fingers were avulsed to the bone, but still attached. We bundled the fingers together with my headband and had him elevate his hand and hold a pressure point while we hurredly arranged for rappels to the bottom. After being evacuated to a hospital in St George where a hand surgeon was waiting, he underwent hours of surgery. He was climbing again later that year =)
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tahoetun
Trad climber
Stevensville, MT
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Wow, Dejavu!
I had almost the exact same thing happen to my thumb (well not quite as bad) on the Leaning Tower. In fact, I could use the whole first half of your story about traversing out, whipping and watching part of my thumb fall off.
Mine happened on the the vertical seems just after the traverse up from Guano Ledge on the West Face. When I got up there some A-hole left the whole thing sewn up with copperheads (leapers work best!). I coudln't clean them without a hammer, so I was forced to use them. The second one that I highstepped off of popped and I went for a 30-40 footer. During the fall I had reached for my rope and thats when it wrapped my thumb. As it tightened, off came every bit of skin and nail from the base up--I was left with a bloody stub of bones, tendons and cartlidge (later I would learn this is called de-gloving for obvious reasons). I did the best I could with role of tape, which I would later regret, and somehow managed to back-clean-downclimb back to the ledge. The worst part was rapping the rest of the overhanging route with the frickin pig and not much of a thumb.
Within six months or so, almost every thing had regenerated including a thumbprint that damn near matches my other! Not even a scar to help tell the story. Had to of been the most excruciating thing that I have experienced.
Anyways, John good luck on a speedy recovery!
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Boulder climber
new york
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johnr9q
Sport climber
Sacramento, Ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2010 - 08:38pm PT
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John R back again. Sorry I didn't get back on SuperT but been to Disneyland for 5 days with the kids and grandkids to celebrate our 40th anniversary. (Wow, 40 years with the same woman. I'm lucky, not sure how lucky she is however) The thumb is really doing well. Have had to keep it elevated to reduce the swelling so in Disneyland (because of the attention I got from always looking like I was waving at people) had to tell the story many times. I finally told people I could either go with the long version or the short version and that I highly recommended the short version which was "I cut my thumb off". This seemed to satisfy most. I go to the doctor on the 22nd of November to have the 2 pins that are holding the bones together removed and then can start moving it and get back to climbing and mountain biking etc. The swelling is way down and I think the oozing and bleeding has finally stopped. Thanks again for all your thoughts and encouragement.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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John, Thanks for the update - glad to hear it is healing up pretty well after quite an epic.
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rmsusa
Trad climber
Boulder
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Get well soon. What an epic!
Holy crap! That's a huge amount of money to spend for a thumb! Ambulances, helicopters, chasing rangers, searches, hours long operations. I no longer wonder how come insurance costs so much.
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