FOND DU LAC COUNTY (NBC 26) — A man lost two of his fingers on Christmas Day after authorities said he tried to clear some snow plugged in his snow blower. The Fond du Lac County Sheriff said deputies and snow plowers had to work together to help the man.
The sheriff said deputies responded on Christmas Day in the early afternoon to a rural address in the town of Alto for a report of a man in his seventies who amputated two fingers while trying to clear snow plugged in his snow blower.
The sheriff said Deputy Andrew Jagdfeld arrived on the scene and found the victim's driveway, which was more than 800 feet long, was drifted over by several feet of snow, making it impossible for emergency vehicles to get to the man who was up by his home.
Deputy Jagdfeld called to see if a snow plow was available and luckily one was nearby. The plow worked on clearing the driveway while the sheriff says Deputy Jagdfeld and other deputies traversed the snow to reach the victim on foot with their med bags.
A second snow plow came in to help. The deputies reached the patient and provided emergency medical aid while the plows worked to clear a path in the driveway for the ambulance.
It took approximately 15 minutes of continued pushing and reversing to plow through the deep drifts, the sheriff said, and the plow operator was able to open a path in the driveway wide enough for the ambulance to drive directly to the patient upon arrival. The patient was then loaded and transported to a hospital for treatment.
"If a plow had not been in the area, rescuers would have either had to wait for specialized equipment to arrive to extricate the patient, or would have had to carry the patient on a gurney through the snow drifts to the ambulance waiting on the road. The cleared driveway saved many minutes of valuable time in getting the patient to the hospital, where he needed to be," the Fond du Lac County Sheriff said.
