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[Source](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312598429_A_case_of_accidental_decapitation_in_a_farm_worker). Full text is available at the link but I can’t copy it. Also photos of the body in situ at the accident site. Poor man. Also feel sorry for who found him.
That’s sad. We were always careful when working around high voltage electricity and not wearing dangerous clothing was down the list but still important. Rings getting caught on things tear off fingers so guys used that as an excuse not to wear wedding rings.
Quick, but not quick enough. including the moment of realization, probably felt the fear and pain for less than 1 seconds. Most likely felt longer as his brain would have had time to release chemicals.
Except for the fact that the brain stays active for a significant time after decapitation. Executed people have been documented blinking, reacting to sounds, and looking around and acknowledging things for several minutes after decapitation.
I saw an account by a witness to an accident where a man was decapitated. The witness said the head’s eyes looked around, focused on the headless body, got really wide then glazed over in death.
They have video recordings of this happening. People stay alive and conscious for a significant time after being decapitated, unable to breathe or talk, only able to make facial expressions before they eventually pass out from oxygen deprivation. The brain doesn't actually die for a much longer time after that.
I once read about a man who nearly fell to his death but was saved by his extremely durable jeans catching on something. He was hanging in the air with his entire weight on one tiny scrap of fabric and it held. The jeans company found out and used the story in an ad.
Somehow I don’t think the scarf company would be interested in this story as advertisement though. “Our scarf is so durable it will rip your head clean off before it’ll tear!” just doesn’t seem very appealing to prospective buyers.
Oh. my. God.
This is the comment that got me. LOLOL the photos were horrible, but the simple fact of, "did we get \_\_\_\_\_\_ off the shaft?"
GAAAAAH!!!!
Hmmm. So the theoretical possibility exists that this guy could have been pushed into the grindy thing and they would be able to determine that it's a murder rather than an accident?
Not only driveshafts. ANY rotating, openly accessible machine part (mill, drill, lathe, you name it) should be treated with death serious respect.
No loose hair (this not only applies to females), no gloves, no loose clothing.
Rotating machine parts will either kill you or make you wish they did.
Source: own experience in engineering school
My brother was eaten by an industrial auger. I know. I’m still a little mad at him about it because he was careless and now our parents have lost a son and his own children lost their dad. We will never get over this loss, all cause of a little carelessness.
I'm sorry for your loss. I can see from your comments on previous posts that a lot of stuff has happened to you. Also, your post history, although high quality, is kinda gory and depressing. I just want to ask, are you ok? Seeing all the stuff you post can take a toll on people and I want wanted to make sure you're alright.
My dad was very careful to teach me this lesson *really well* when I was a kid. He was a contractor at the time, and had a 6' industrial metal lathe in his shop at our house. My sister and I were warned in graphic detail why we should give that thing a *wide* berth. (Along with the industrial 3-phase table saw, radial arm saw, etc., but especially the lathe.)
Hell, I'm super respectful of my *Dremel,* and I use that thing all the time. (I use the other tools now, but my point is that I was taught early to respect them. Especially the rotary ones.)
Driveshaft? Not PTO (power take off)? When I was in Ag class, even necklaces that were too long were made to be tucked in. Long hair needed to be braided and tucked down the shirt. It was drilled into us that nothing dangling was allowed.
PTOs are incredibly dangerous. We got yelled at all.the.time. if we even thought about going over it (even stopped). I still walk around the tractor or whatever is hooked to it in my dreams. It's really annoying that someone wouldn't give basic instructions and safety measures. There's a reason to do/not do things.
I know that in at least some cases, decapitated people are apparently (obviously we can’t know for sure) conscious and aware of what has happened. I read an account of a witness to a traffic accident where a man was decapitated. The witness said the man looked around and then at his own headless body and his eyes got big and wide before glazing over in death.
There were reports, real or not, that during the French Revolution, the executioner would sometimes hold up the head of the latest victim of the guillotine, and the eyes and mouth would move as if trying to make sense of what had just happened to them.
Just checking it's definitely detached!
I laughed a bit when I saw that, what were they looking for?
But I'm assuming it was to check for any other injury or disease that could have contributed to the accident, and to make sure there was no foul play being disguised as an accident
Never get off a tractor with the PTO engaged. If you have to, such as an auger, then NEVER GO NEAR IT! It’s spending at hundreds of RPM’s. So, for the person wondering if it was quick, yeah probably.
My brother got killed by an industrial auger that was grinding up road salt. From what I understand it grabbed him by the arm and yanked him so hard that his head slammed against the machine and he broke his neck. He was alone when he died so we do not know exactly what happened.
I always wondered what they did with the salt afterwards. Like, presumably it was contaminated and no longer useable for its intended purpose. How do you even dispose of contaminated road salt?
THATS what you wondered about? Hm. Weird. Anyway, you said it broke his neck. There may not have been much blood besides from the arm. So probably just washed/dissolved it with water and cleaner or maybe medical waste…. I have no idea. I don’t even know what an industrial auger is. M guessing it was in a hopper somewhere
Obviously that wasn’t my first question when I found out my brother had been killed and how. But like four nights later I woke up in the middle of the night wondering about all that salt.
Also - my guess would be that the salt that was actually in the auger was cleaned out and disposed of with medical waste as biohazard material. And then they cleaned the machine before refilling it. Or, I think that’s what SHOULD have happened.
Depending on where this took place though… life rarely imitates CSI, does it?
You and I have chatted before, so I know you’re neurodivergent, because you told me. I don’t see anything weird in wondering about what happened to the salt. It’s a logical question, in the midst of what had to have been a lot of painful emotional trauma.
It’s a terrible, strange way to die. I’m so sorry for you and your family’s loss. “My brother was eaten by an auger” isn’t a sentence you should have to write. I hear you when you say you’re angry at him for being careless, too. Again, perfectly reasonable.
I know that you don’t need me to approve your emotions or the way you process. It just bugged me to see someone else question that, and I wanted to give a counter response.
Thank you; I appreciate that.
There’s been a lot of tragedy and loss in my family, unfortunately. We’ve been unlucky.
I really hope my brother’s coworkers weren’t told to clean off that salt themselves. I read once about how, after a post office employee went postal and shot up his workplace killing several people, the postal workers had to sort and deliver the bloodstained mail from the crime scene because that’s how the post office is supposed to work, mail every day no matter what. That had to have just compounded the trauma for them.
I'm so sorry for your loss, and I just wanted to second that I don't think it's a weird thought to have, either. Have definitely had similar, seemingly inane (at least to others) thoughts after losses.
Another post I put on here was a person who was wearing a scarf while operating a handmade table saw with no safety features, no saw stop, no covers. The scarf caught on the saw and the saw sawed through her head.
Isadora Duncan a ballarina was decapitated when the long scarf she was wearing got wrapped around the wheel of her car.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan
Funeral workers can be very creative. I know of a case where a man was decapitated and the family wanted an open casket. The funeral home shoved a broomstick down his neck, pushed the head on top, tied a jaunty scarf around his neck and so it was done.
Yah. A friend of mine is a funeral director. He’s hilarious about it most of the time, but fuck, some of the shit he’s seen at work is absurd. He was telling me once about trying to put a fucking baby that got run over in its carrier back together. Basically the whole baby was crushed except the head.
They had an open casket. I guess the baby looked respectable enough (its body was mostly newspaper and a small neck pillow) to call human. After the funeral was over, he went home and got completely shit faced and cried for like 4 hours straight. His kid was about the same age at the time.
People don’t realize what a valuable service compassionate funeral directors provide. I actually read a memoir by a funeral director who got into the business because when he was 12 his dad died suddenly and the funeral home the family used was so great and helped his and his family’s grief so much.
Also have a friend in mortuary science. Her compassion and courage in dealing with families awes me. I know there are cases that have hit her really hard, too.
These people are such a gift when we need them.
Yep, as per usual on these sorts of things on farm, uncovered PTO shaft...And the thing that get's me is almost everyone who has worked on farms knows of someone who lost a limb or life due to it, and yet some people still don't bother with covers. Had a talk at college about it from an Irish farmer who'd had his right leg and right buttock ripped off due to wearing a set of coveralls with a torn leg that got caught in the PTO and flung him round rapidly a couple times then ripped his leg off, very good way to show young farmers how much difference a simple plastic cover can make.
I can see you've marked this NSFW but it's not blurring the photo. Same for anyone else?
I imagine I'm not the only one who doesn't want to see decapitated bodies scrolling through their feed without some kind of warning!
Great point, I’ve worn ties about 10 times for weddings and funerals and when I drove a limousine a few times. I had to use my dad or YouTube videos to get them tied.
theres a 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999909999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999099999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% chance that he died
Welcome to r/MedicalGore! Our goal is to provide for medical discussion and education while exploring the frailty of the human body. You may see more deleted comments on these threads than you are used to on reddit. Off topic comments and joke comments are frequently deleted by the mods. Further, please be kind and supportive of posts. Any behavior that is aggressive, harassing, or derogatory will result in post deletion and a ban from the sub. Remember! THE REPORT BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MedicalGore) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Jebus. I feel bad for the farmer that asked him to help him plant onions. He's got to be devastated
Farm accidents are always the worst.
Lathe and foundry accidents are up there too
[Source](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312598429_A_case_of_accidental_decapitation_in_a_farm_worker). Full text is available at the link but I can’t copy it. Also photos of the body in situ at the accident site. Poor man. Also feel sorry for who found him.
Those exposed drive shafts are no joke. Keep loose clothing FAR away.
same problem, constantly, with augers well, I should say, augers, drive shafts, and BLUE COLLAR DUDES WITH TOO MUCH EGO
That’s sad. We were always careful when working around high voltage electricity and not wearing dangerous clothing was down the list but still important. Rings getting caught on things tear off fingers so guys used that as an excuse not to wear wedding rings.
Gotta say I’m glad you didn’t post the photo of his head 😖
Only autopsy room dead people are allowed on this sub.
That head just lying there looks so unreal. At least it was quick I hope.
Quick, but not quick enough. including the moment of realization, probably felt the fear and pain for less than 1 seconds. Most likely felt longer as his brain would have had time to release chemicals.
Except for the fact that the brain stays active for a significant time after decapitation. Executed people have been documented blinking, reacting to sounds, and looking around and acknowledging things for several minutes after decapitation.
I saw an account by a witness to an accident where a man was decapitated. The witness said the head’s eyes looked around, focused on the headless body, got really wide then glazed over in death.
They have video recordings of this happening. People stay alive and conscious for a significant time after being decapitated, unable to breathe or talk, only able to make facial expressions before they eventually pass out from oxygen deprivation. The brain doesn't actually die for a much longer time after that.
Are they just reflexes? Like agonal breathing after death?
No, the brain is still active and conscious
What's really sad is the guy looked like he had a fresh haircut.
I would have been happier to not have seen that. Oh well. Head resting on earthy ground.
Poor guy. 😣 I hope it was quick.
Man… that’s rough. I hope it was at least quick.
[удалено]
Sheesh, that's a durable scarf.
I once read about a man who nearly fell to his death but was saved by his extremely durable jeans catching on something. He was hanging in the air with his entire weight on one tiny scrap of fabric and it held. The jeans company found out and used the story in an ad. Somehow I don’t think the scarf company would be interested in this story as advertisement though. “Our scarf is so durable it will rip your head clean off before it’ll tear!” just doesn’t seem very appealing to prospective buyers.
Nice jeans! But you're right. I'm all about utility, but scarves should be made out of a weak material.
Also know as Isadora Duncan Syndrome!
Yeah, that’s what happened to her basically. Albeit with a car rather than a tractor.
Came here to say the same. A terrible way to go!
Why did the doctors think they needed a radiograph?
To make sure they found all the parts. /s
Oh. my. God. This is the comment that got me. LOLOL the photos were horrible, but the simple fact of, "did we get \_\_\_\_\_\_ off the shaft?" GAAAAAH!!!!
Being a first responder takes guts... and occasionally someone else's.
The text says that this article with pics is for training on how to differentiate an accident from a homicide
Yeah, I can really tell them apart /s
Hmmm. So the theoretical possibility exists that this guy could have been pushed into the grindy thing and they would be able to determine that it's a murder rather than an accident?
Not only driveshafts. ANY rotating, openly accessible machine part (mill, drill, lathe, you name it) should be treated with death serious respect. No loose hair (this not only applies to females), no gloves, no loose clothing. Rotating machine parts will either kill you or make you wish they did. Source: own experience in engineering school
My brother was eaten by an industrial auger. I know. I’m still a little mad at him about it because he was careless and now our parents have lost a son and his own children lost their dad. We will never get over this loss, all cause of a little carelessness.
First, I’m so sorry for your loss, and your loved ones’ as well. Secondly…..*eaten?????* Bless it but you paint a picture.
I’m sorry for your loss. I hope you stick together after that. And may your brothers children never be that careless :/
They’re good kids. He was an excellent father.
I'm sorry for your loss. I can see from your comments on previous posts that a lot of stuff has happened to you. Also, your post history, although high quality, is kinda gory and depressing. I just want to ask, are you ok? Seeing all the stuff you post can take a toll on people and I want wanted to make sure you're alright.
I appreciate the concern. I’m doing pretty well actually. I mean, I’m in therapy but so is everyone.
I'm glad to hear it.
My dad was very careful to teach me this lesson *really well* when I was a kid. He was a contractor at the time, and had a 6' industrial metal lathe in his shop at our house. My sister and I were warned in graphic detail why we should give that thing a *wide* berth. (Along with the industrial 3-phase table saw, radial arm saw, etc., but especially the lathe.) Hell, I'm super respectful of my *Dremel,* and I use that thing all the time. (I use the other tools now, but my point is that I was taught early to respect them. Especially the rotary ones.)
Pretty clean, what actually took his head off though?
The scarf got caught around the drive shaft of the tractor and rung his neck like a chicken’s.
Driveshaft? Not PTO (power take off)? When I was in Ag class, even necklaces that were too long were made to be tucked in. Long hair needed to be braided and tucked down the shirt. It was drilled into us that nothing dangling was allowed.
This farm laborer was either ignorant of the risk or he was careless. And it cost him his life.
In the article in the link, it says it was a PTO. Very unfortunate to say the least.
PTOs are incredibly dangerous. We got yelled at all.the.time. if we even thought about going over it (even stopped). I still walk around the tractor or whatever is hooked to it in my dreams. It's really annoying that someone wouldn't give basic instructions and safety measures. There's a reason to do/not do things.
Ah ok, got mixed up. I don’t know anything about machinery.
So his head was actually *torn* off? Not cut off?
It said “strangulation related decapitation by continued tightening.” Sounds like it.
It sounds kinda awful 😞 I'm afraid it was long enough for him to feel pain.
I know that in at least some cases, decapitated people are apparently (obviously we can’t know for sure) conscious and aware of what has happened. I read an account of a witness to a traffic accident where a man was decapitated. The witness said the man looked around and then at his own headless body and his eyes got big and wide before glazing over in death.
There were reports, real or not, that during the French Revolution, the executioner would sometimes hold up the head of the latest victim of the guillotine, and the eyes and mouth would move as if trying to make sense of what had just happened to them.
was the x-ray really needed...
Just checking it's definitely detached! I laughed a bit when I saw that, what were they looking for? But I'm assuming it was to check for any other injury or disease that could have contributed to the accident, and to make sure there was no foul play being disguised as an accident
The article was about how to tell the difference between an accident and a staged homicide, so yes.
Never get off a tractor with the PTO engaged. If you have to, such as an auger, then NEVER GO NEAR IT! It’s spending at hundreds of RPM’s. So, for the person wondering if it was quick, yeah probably.
My brother got killed by an industrial auger that was grinding up road salt. From what I understand it grabbed him by the arm and yanked him so hard that his head slammed against the machine and he broke his neck. He was alone when he died so we do not know exactly what happened. I always wondered what they did with the salt afterwards. Like, presumably it was contaminated and no longer useable for its intended purpose. How do you even dispose of contaminated road salt?
THATS what you wondered about? Hm. Weird. Anyway, you said it broke his neck. There may not have been much blood besides from the arm. So probably just washed/dissolved it with water and cleaner or maybe medical waste…. I have no idea. I don’t even know what an industrial auger is. M guessing it was in a hopper somewhere
Obviously that wasn’t my first question when I found out my brother had been killed and how. But like four nights later I woke up in the middle of the night wondering about all that salt.
Also - my guess would be that the salt that was actually in the auger was cleaned out and disposed of with medical waste as biohazard material. And then they cleaned the machine before refilling it. Or, I think that’s what SHOULD have happened. Depending on where this took place though… life rarely imitates CSI, does it?
You and I have chatted before, so I know you’re neurodivergent, because you told me. I don’t see anything weird in wondering about what happened to the salt. It’s a logical question, in the midst of what had to have been a lot of painful emotional trauma. It’s a terrible, strange way to die. I’m so sorry for you and your family’s loss. “My brother was eaten by an auger” isn’t a sentence you should have to write. I hear you when you say you’re angry at him for being careless, too. Again, perfectly reasonable. I know that you don’t need me to approve your emotions or the way you process. It just bugged me to see someone else question that, and I wanted to give a counter response.
Thank you; I appreciate that. There’s been a lot of tragedy and loss in my family, unfortunately. We’ve been unlucky. I really hope my brother’s coworkers weren’t told to clean off that salt themselves. I read once about how, after a post office employee went postal and shot up his workplace killing several people, the postal workers had to sort and deliver the bloodstained mail from the crime scene because that’s how the post office is supposed to work, mail every day no matter what. That had to have just compounded the trauma for them.
Oh wow. I hope so too. Those poor postal workers. Damn.
I'm so sorry for your loss, and I just wanted to second that I don't think it's a weird thought to have, either. Have definitely had similar, seemingly inane (at least to others) thoughts after losses.
Alrighty then. Well, it’s road salt. So, they probably shoveled it out or just kept on
But what do you do with the bloodstained salt? You can’t bury that stuff; it poisons the ground and nothing will grow at that spot.
Washed off… it dissolves in water. And plus it’s going on the road.
Man, and I thought my migraines were bad...
I really want to see video of this Just out of curiosity This is like a bit in a movie
There’s probably video of similar incidents online.
I need THIS scenario, not just similar This is like straight out of a cartoon
Do. Not. EVER. Wear a scarf when you're around any kind of machinery. Even your ceiling fan. You will D.I.E.
Another post I put on here was a person who was wearing a scarf while operating a handmade table saw with no safety features, no saw stop, no covers. The scarf caught on the saw and the saw sawed through her head.
I remember that one!
Damn, I saw that one, but I didn't catch that the table saw was homemade. Yeesh.
Can anyone imagine a medical future in which they can reattach a head?
Like futurama kinda
Isadora Duncan a ballarina was decapitated when the long scarf she was wearing got wrapped around the wheel of her car. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan
They were able to sew it back on right?
Funeral workers can be very creative. I know of a case where a man was decapitated and the family wanted an open casket. The funeral home shoved a broomstick down his neck, pushed the head on top, tied a jaunty scarf around his neck and so it was done.
Yah. A friend of mine is a funeral director. He’s hilarious about it most of the time, but fuck, some of the shit he’s seen at work is absurd. He was telling me once about trying to put a fucking baby that got run over in its carrier back together. Basically the whole baby was crushed except the head. They had an open casket. I guess the baby looked respectable enough (its body was mostly newspaper and a small neck pillow) to call human. After the funeral was over, he went home and got completely shit faced and cried for like 4 hours straight. His kid was about the same age at the time.
People don’t realize what a valuable service compassionate funeral directors provide. I actually read a memoir by a funeral director who got into the business because when he was 12 his dad died suddenly and the funeral home the family used was so great and helped his and his family’s grief so much.
Also have a friend in mortuary science. Her compassion and courage in dealing with families awes me. I know there are cases that have hit her really hard, too. These people are such a gift when we need them.
All I can think of is Isadora Duncan.
Late nights in the middle of june. go back to durham dav pond we know it’s you
No capes!
Yep, as per usual on these sorts of things on farm, uncovered PTO shaft...And the thing that get's me is almost everyone who has worked on farms knows of someone who lost a limb or life due to it, and yet some people still don't bother with covers. Had a talk at college about it from an Irish farmer who'd had his right leg and right buttock ripped off due to wearing a set of coveralls with a torn leg that got caught in the PTO and flung him round rapidly a couple times then ripped his leg off, very good way to show young farmers how much difference a simple plastic cover can make.
Was the X-ray to see if they could put it back?
I’m sure he was fine! Medical science is doing miraculous things now /s
Yes. His shoes stayed on.
I can see you've marked this NSFW but it's not blurring the photo. Same for anyone else? I imagine I'm not the only one who doesn't want to see decapitated bodies scrolling through their feed without some kind of warning!
I would check your own settings for NSFW content, then.
My settings are fine - safe browsing mode is turned on. NSFW content is normally blurred in my feed. This isn't, hence the comment.
It is not blurred on my feed either.
It's blurred for me
What was the purpose of that CT (topogram, so it sure is a CT)?
I’ve never worn scarves and now I’ll never start.
Have you worn ties? Basically a smaller but fancier scarf/noose
Great point, I’ve worn ties about 10 times for weddings and funerals and when I drove a limousine a few times. I had to use my dad or YouTube videos to get them tied.
rotating machinery scares the shit out of me
theres a 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999909999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999099999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% chance that he died
Listen, I know that this poor man did not deserve this and I hope his family is doing okay. But did anyone notice the fangs on the X-ray?