This X-ray shows the results of a serious, but non-fatal, workplace accident near Pittsburgh, Pa. Landscape worker James Valentine was in a harness halfway up the tree he was trimming when it occurred.
Allegheny General Hospital

A tree trimmer from Pennsylvania is lucky to be alive after his chainsaw kicked back and lodged into his neck while he was trimming a tree in Ross Township, a commercial center and residential community just north of Pittsburgh.

As reported by Lynne Hayes-Freeland of KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pa., the accident victim, James Valentine, described it as a freak mishap that could happen to anybody, but the incidence underlines the need for heeding safe practices when operating power machinery, even by professionals.

Valentine works for Adler Tree Service, which is based in Gibsonia, Pa. An emergency worker stated that Valentine was able to turn the saw off and hold it somewhat steady as he climbed down the tree, aided by a co-worker. A doctor on the scene then stabilized Valentine.

Police reportedly separated the motor from the blade but left the blade in Valentine's neck; worried that removing it would cause massive, and perhaps fatal, bleeding.

At Allegheny General Hospital, trauma surgeons removed the chain and blade and stemmed the bleeding, which was stated to be minimal because no major arteries were sliced.

Stitches and sutures were needed to close the wound. Valentine is expected to make a full recovery.