Man who lost hand in sausage-making ordeal cut off own arm

Associated Press Sep 26, 2018 Updated 12 hrs ago



Myron Schlafman stands inside his garage where he lost his forearm in an electric meat mixer in Jamestown, N.D.

Jim Monk, KFGO Radio via AP

JAMESTOWN, N.D. | A 69-year-old Vietnam vet who lost a hand after it got stuck in a meat mixer while he was making sausage at his North Dakota home says he had to slice off his left arm above the wrist with a butcher knife or risk bleeding to death.

In his first public comments since the Aug. 17 accident, Myron Schlafman said he credits two police officers with saving his life by quickly applying a tourniquet before ambulance crews took him to the hospital.

"I've always appreciated life, but not as much as I do now."

Schlafman said he was taking a chunk of meat out of the mixer in the garage of his Jamestown home when he accidentally stepped on a pedal to activate the machine. ... "I just looked and knew I was in big trouble," said Schlafman, who is right-handed.
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