Lawn mower blades sliced a man in Broomfield on Monday after he fell off a mower on a steep embankment and it rolled over him, police said.
Paramedics airlifted the man to Denver Health Medical Center, where he was treated for life-threatening injuries, said Wendy Forbes, a spokeswoman with North Metro Fire Rescue.
“(His arm) was severed completely through,” said Forbes.
She said rescuers put the severed arm in an ice chest and airlifted it along with him to the hospital.
Police aren’t releasing the man’s name, but said he was with Navarro Landscaping, a Las Vegas-based landscaping contractor. Navarro Landscaping did not respond to a message left at its office Monday.
Commercial lawn mowers are supposed to have shutdown mechanisms that kick in when an operator falls off, Forbes said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident that occurred between a golf course and the Camden Interlocken apartments, police said.
Herb Gibson, OSHA area director, confirmed that his agency is investigating.
“We’re going to do a thorough investigation to make sure things like this don’t occur again,” he said.
Lawn mower accidents are more common than people think, Forbes said. Her department gets a couple calls a year about people injured when lawn mowers run amok, she said, but they’ve never been this serious.
The victim spoke only Spanish and his foreman translated for paramedics, Forbes added.
She commended the co-workers and golfers who responded and helped the man until authorities arrived.
“It was a pretty traumatic scene,” she said.
Staff writer Vimal Patel can be reached at 303-954-1638 or vpatel@denverpost.com.
