Farmer saws off his own leg with pocket knife after becoming stuck in machinery

A farmer had to saw off his own leg with a pocket knife after he became stuck in a piece of machinery.

Kurt Kaser, from Nebraska, was unloading corn before he climbed out of his truck and accidentally stepped on the opening of a grain auger.

The equipment is used to transport grain and has a part inside resembling a large drill-bit.

Mr Kaser said he became caught as the device pulled at his leg, tearing away skin, muscle and tissue.

The farmer, who lives in the village of Pender, told ABC News: "I stepped right in the damn thing. It grabbed hold of me.

"I can remember seeing it start and I go, 'this ain't good'.

"And then when my foot was in the there banging around, I was trying to hold my leg, pulling it out, and I said, 'This is not good'."




Mr Kaser continued: "I about gave up and said, 'Whatever happens happens. If it sucks me in all the way, it's over with'.

"But then, all at once, I thought of my pocket knife."

The farmer said at one point he nearly dropped the three to four-inch blade into the auger, but once he had a good grip he started sawing off his leg about eight inches below the knee.

Mr Kaser said he doesn't remember experiencing much pain and he didn't notice a lot of blood.

He continued: "Adrenaline kicked in so much that I don't know if it hurt or not."

Vintage wrote:You'd probably do it, its amazing what you do when you are desperate, animals bite off their own legs when caught in traps, it seems a deep seated survival thing in all animals. A man in the US  got his arm stuck between two huge rocks, he couldn't move his arm nor the rocks and eventually sawed trough his whole arm with a pen knife. Mind you I expect his arm was numb by the time he did it about two days after being caught. Horrible thought though.