Oh how awful for Tom! I am sending my hope that he will recover quickly and without complications!!!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Tom, who sounds as rare as snow in August.

What a terrible tragedy . I sure hope he has an uncomplicated recovery. Kudos to you for the wonderful attitude you are displaying. c

So sorry to hear about it. Get that man a SawStop table saw, pronto!!

Oh, man.
My DH cut his thumb almost all the way off with a compound miter saw. That's when he finally learned that electrical or duct tape just aren't good for everything he comes across.

The surgery was awful, done with a local and me holding the clamps to keep the skin back. (Never go to Montgomery General in Olney, Montgomery County, MD). There were no nurses available (huh?) so I helped. This isn't the first nightmare experience we'd had with that hospital.

Anyway, the pain is amazing and it'll take him a while to become accustomed to babying his hand.

I'll bet it kicked back on him.
My prayers are definitely with him.

Said a prayer just a few moments ago for Tom. And what a caring person you are to ask for prayer for your friend.

oh goodness! prayers for him definitely! for recovery, for the life adjustment he'll have and acceptance.

Acceptance of things like this sure isn't easy either. A friend of mine had an accidental during a project and lost most of his right foot. It's a painful adjustment all the way around.

Oh I am so sorry to hear that. He does sound like a rare man, and I'll be praying.

Please know that I will continue to keep in my prayers and hope for his speedy recovery.

You are fortunate to have such a reliable person to help you with your home projects, and he is just as fortunate to have such a caring person as yourself as his client.

Best to you both!

Tablesaws are very scary things. That's the one tool where I carefully plan the way I actually physically move for every cut. Then once I turn on the blade I take another few seconds to review before starting.

Oh no! Such a hard loss for a hardworking, honest man. Best wishes for a uneventful recovery! Please encourage him to take the time to heal right, it will be much better for him in the long term than pushing things and ending up with unnecessary damages, infection, or worse. Glad to hear he's generally ok.

Will do so. Thanks for letting us know and I'm so sorry...

Thank you for the kind words and prayers for our contractor. He came to our house last night to tell us what happened, how his doctor feels he's doing, and his plans to have our remodel completed. It was great to see him, but so dreadful hearing the harrowing details.

Basically, he was making our cabinets and the the piece of wood kicked back and in an instant he lost portions of 3 fingers of his right (dominant) hand. Just horrible. He is a meticulous, super careful guy. He said he's healing well, but is really unhappy to see what remains of his hand. His told us "I've been doing this for 30 years and have only cut myself once...well, I can't do anything about it now, I just have to move forward". He has to wait another 10 days before he'll be reevaluated (which is driving him crazy). He's already lined up another cabinet maker to finish creating the cabinet boxes on Monday and has a team set up to stain them. Tom is not the kind of guy to sit still for very long. I pray that with physical therapy and some modifications he'll be able to continue his business. He's one of those guys who is always busy and does such a great job that he's usually booked out a year in advance.

My husband and I told him to take as long as he needs to heal-he is more important than our kitchen. We can make do with our "indoor camping" for a long time. The house is tight and warm, we have a fridge, stove and temporary sink, a card table and chairs, and a beautiful sawhorse/closet door island.

He brought with him the front to one of the cabinets so we could see how they will look-beautiful!

When all is done, I'll post pics. I've lurked here for over a year and have learned so much. Thanks again for your kind thoughts.

Sending up prayers for Tom. The Lord has a way of allowing us to experience surprising silver linings from even from the worst, most painful circumstances. I truly hope he recovers and adjusts quickly. He sounds like a wonderful treasure of a man.

Were I he, I'd be grieving the loss of fingers. Up and making plans is probably the most useful thing he can do for himself at the moment. The good news is that I know several people who have less than the requisite number of fingers, some because they were born that way and some due to accidents, and they all manage to do what needs doing in life. It may take a while, but this good man will figure out how to manage with what he has. It's fortunate that you can live with camping out for a while longer - it's good of you, and not necessarily expected.

My husband and I go to a restaurant where the day-time manager is a boisterous, happy man. His hands have stubs for fingers, which I only realized when I shook his hand. Bad drugs from 40 yr ago, I think. He does a wonderful job, but, of course, he isn't a carpenter or a contractor. This man was born with them and he doesn't let it stop him at all!

I hope your contractor can regain his equilibrium and proceed with his life. The people who have obvious disabilities light up our lives when they prove that the disabilities don't matter. I'm sure from your description that your dear friend will do the same. Blessings to him!

You guys are blessed to have each other! My husband's granddad built cabinets many years ago, and he was missing 2 or 3 fingers (and a half maybe). He was awesome!! Prayers for Tom!

Prayers going up for Tom. He sounds like such a good and honest person, so sorry this happened to him.

Thinking of your GC and sending positive energy.

That's how my husband, a contractor family history of all his life, was cut. A piece kicked back on a compound miter say.

Did Tom lose his fingers or did they reattach? Sometimes the latter isn't all that great if it involves a joint. (I learned.) It is weaker.

He'd be the first, probably, to admit that familiarity of 30 years is the first to lose something in over confidence, casual treatment of machines, and contempt for those who are using safety equipment. Not that he wasn't careful, but admittedly, when one uses a piece of equipment every day....

I am glad he's up and around, making plans. I'd hate to be the ones working for him. He'll be on their backs like flies on roadkill. They'd better be up to his standards or they'll be doing over a lot of work!

Knowing what he's going through, I'm thinking of him and wishing him the best outcome.

As a guy who works with bladed tools every day, stories like this make me wince, and get a knot in my stomach. Always show the tools respect. Never be in a hurry. If your mind is wandering, shut the tools down. Operating with safety demands constant attention.
I hope he has a full and rapid recovery.
Casey

So sorry to hear about this accident. It brings back the memory of the night that we learned a teen friend of our teen daughter cut off 3 fingers while helping his dad with some woodworking in the basement. He was a super sweet kid and his dad was a contractor. What a shock it was. I pray Tom will heal quickly, both physically and mentally.