Imagine the horror of experiencing a severe accident while alone, with no immediate assistance available. This was the grim reality for one man whose quick thinking saved his life and enabled the reattachment of both arms following a gruesome farm accident in North Dakota.
In 1992, John Thompson, then a teenager, faced a life-threatening situation when he was involved in a tractor accident, severing both of his arms.
Despite the dire circumstances, John mustered the strength to make his way 100 yards to his home to seek help.
Using his mouth, he managed to open the door and get inside the house.
Unable to use his hands to dial the phone in the usual manner, the resourceful teenager used a pencil in his mouth to contact his cousin, who lived nearby, for assistance.
Conscious of the situation, he headed to the bathroom to avoid staining the carpet with blood.
Remarkably, Thompson survived the ordeal, and after a grueling six-hour surgery, both of his arms were reattached.
Even after more than three decades, he vividly recalls every moment of the accident.
In a documentary, he explained how his shirt tails became entangled with the tractor’s shaft as he attempted to free himself.
“It got wrapped in with the power shaft. The next thing I know, everything is dark and I’m feeling funny.”
He regained consciousness with his dog licking his face, and realized he had lost both arms below the shoulders.
“I’m just lying there on the stretcher and thinking ‘Why don’t they have the sirens turned on.’ And so I was complaining about that because they didn’t want to excite me and I’m like ‘well just turn the siren on.’ And then I remember the one gal who was with me in the back looked and told the guy to slow down. And I’m like ‘Ok, I have no arms, don’t slow the ambulance down just get me there,’” Thompson recounted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBajwOZmbc
In the years following the accident, Thompson reflected on the unexpected fame and attention he received.
“That was probably the hardest thing I had to deal with, was the notoriety,” he noted.
“I keep trying to get away from it, but I have nowhere else to go, so I just keep going back to it. I can’t find nothing else,” he expressed. “I try doing other things and they just haven’t worked out. It always comes back to people knowing me and wanting to use me.”
He explained to the Star Tribune: “I keep trying to get away from it, but I have nowhere else to go, so I just keep going back to it. I can’t find nothing else,” he reiterated.
“I try doing other things and they just haven’t worked out. It always comes back to people knowing me and wanting to use me.”
Today, he can move his arms, though his hands remain clenched unless he opens them manually.
Although his surgeon has suggested prosthetic hands to enhance mobility, Thompson has chosen to adapt, valuing his sense of touch.
“They said, ‘This is Oprah Winfrey,’ ” he recalled. “Good, this is John Thompson. I’m not canceling. I gave these people my word.
“I’d like to see what would happen to you if you’re 18 and you get thrown into all this. I’m damned impressed with what I’ve done.”