Man Who Sawed Through Arm Scheduled To Speak Today

Jonathan Metz and his fiancee Melissa Mowder; Metz's boiler (Photographs via family handout/AP)

Jonathan Metz, the 31-year-old West Hartford, Connecticut resident who sawed off most of his left arm that was trapped in his boiler, is expected to give a press conference at 2 p.m. Metz decided on the drastic measure because, as he was stuck for two days, his arm started to decay and Metz's doctors praised his decision, saying his arm was gangrenous and could have killed him.

These past few days, his parents have been talking about their courageous son. They told the Hartford Courant that their son had just put some lobster in the microwave on June 7 when he went to the basement "for what he thought would be 15 minutes of boiler maintenance. He dropped the vacuum attachment and reached in to retrieve it, but his left arm got stuck. As hours passed in his dark basement, Metz told his parents, he lost track of whether it was day or night. The only way to mark the passage of time was the beeps from his microwave, alerting him every five minutes that his lobster was ready — something his father likened to 'psychological torture.'"

They said their son kicked over some leftover woodworking material to create a seat for himself and that he drank basement water by scooping it up with his sandals. By June 9, Paul Metz said Jonathan took some woodworking tools that were within reach, "The first thing he found was a hacksaw blade, so that's how he started. But it wasn't going fast enough. So then he looked around some more and found a saw blade with bigger teeth on it, which would cut it faster, because every cut was painful... He got down to the final set of nerves, which were in a sheath. He started cutting through there, and he said the pain was so horrific, 'I just couldn't go any further.'"

With his parents and fiancee living in North Carolina, Metz, who lives alone, "couldn't see anyone coming to his rescue." When he didn't respond to an email on the morning of June 7, they called him. When he didn't answer or call back immediately, his parents weren't too worried, since it wasn't unusual for him to take a day to return a call and thought he must be busy. But then they received a phone call on Wednesday, June 9, learning about their son's ordeal. Here's video of them at their son's home:

Jonathan Metz was rescued when a friend, concerned that Metz didn't show up to a Tuesday night softball game, called the police. (Here's his 911 call—he pointed out how Metz hadn't showed up at work but his car was in the driveway with lights on.) Doctors performed surgeries and are prepping him to receive a prosthetic arm. His mother said to the Courant that she understands why he cut his arm off, "He had nothing not to live for. Everybody and everything is positive around him. He had no reason to not fight."

Yesterday, an energy company donated a new boiler to his house yesterday.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on June 15, 2010 12:22 PM

Comments [rss]

Carpenters and Joinery

I love that his boiler was replaced. Gives a whole new meaning to costing an arm and a leg! Such courage though!

longacre

I hope Discovery Channel does a show about this and makes a detailed animation of how his arm got stuck. If he got it in there, it doesn't make sense that he couldn't get it out, even if he had to break it, which would hurt a lot less than cutting it off.

Gothamist_Cynic

I'm surprised the Chinese haven't made a 3D simulation of this yet.

escherichia

I'm kind of wondering what kind of fiancée doesn't try to get a hold of her man for three consecutive days.

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

personally thats exactly the kind of fiannce I'd want.

save for the one time my arm is stuck behind a boiler..I needs my space.

JenChungsBaby

The best type.

ozik

Well, he's going to have trouble getting a "hold" on her from now on.

Poor guy.

epicac5

i was kind of wondering the same thing, but according to the Courant, they spoke on Monday, while or after he was at work, he went to the basement about 7pm, was down there all day Tuesday, and then was freed mid-late afternoon Wed. so it was seemingly only about a day and a half...

Jen Chung

Thanks for mentioning that.

I also just added a link to his friend's 911 call to the police

http://www.courant.com/community/west-hartford/hc-west-hartford-metz-911-call-audio-mp3,0,881874.mp3file

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

Lobster in the microwave??? WTF?????

Guest

I know! Lobster is supposed to be boiled. Silly humans!

LeLY

So, this guy is being called courageous because he sawed through his arm after getting stuck in machinery?

I uh...okay...whatever.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

It was done in the SAW movie. Man cut his foot to escape.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

Actually many other species even domestic dogs bite off their paws caught in those traps set to catch animal for their fur. Disgusting.

Guest

Disgusting is your penchant for turning every post into something about animals. Think of it this way, bonehead: Imagine someone always yelling the word "JUICEBOX!" every time you said something. How annoying would that get?

Global Wombat

Do you know how many discarded juice boxes get caught in the throats of Canadian Geese every year? DEATH TO WELCH'S!

militza

"DEATH TO WELCH'S!"

heehee.

Jen Chung

Well, he had the courage to do something nearly unthinkable to live. The doctors said he probably would have died, if he let the arm continue to decay on his body.

Kojak

Yes. Few people have the balls to do such a thing. Most people, if faced with the choice of having to starve or cut of own arm would probably just starve.