KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When you think of snow-removal techniques, you typically think of it being related to shoveling. Turns out, more than five thousand snowblower users are sent to the emergency room every year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Christina Lesch, who lives in the Northland, nearly learned that lesson the hard way.
“It still feels like my fingers are in a vice,” she said.
Lesch was only clearing her driveway when her neighborhood snowblower jammed. It was last Friday when she tried to free heavy snow from the machine. Instead, she said her hand got caught.
“I was really stupid, and I shouldn’t have done that. You look at your hand, and there was some meat coming out of my glove of my finger.”
The accident left her with three broken bones, a severed tendon and a cut to her artery.
Doctors said they’re used to see these mishaps during winter months, including the occasional hand injury.
“We’ll see people who want to reach down in there or try to unclog the auger. There’s a high risk of hand injuries doing that,” Dr. Chad Cannon said with University of Kansas hospital.
