A landscape contractor from Lynn, Mass., lost seven toes when he slipped underneath a riding lawn mower, trying to move it after it got stuck.
Juan Santana, 39, was working in the back yard of a home in Boxford, according to fellow workers and fire Chief Kerry Stickney.
Santana left the machine running while he bent down and tried to move it after it got stuck in a patch of worn grass, according to two co-workers from Grounds Corp., a Boxford landscaping company.
His feet slipped under the mower deck at the front of the machine, said Stickney, who responded to the accident.
Police Officer Dave Barker, an emergency medical technician, was first on the scene.
Fire and police EMTs put pressure on both Santana's legs and wrapped his feet, before an AMR Ambulance transported him to Lawrence General Hospital. He was later transferred to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. A hospital spokesperson said Santana was listed in good condition as of 9:30 p.m. last night.
"We did find a few remains of the toes and they were brought to Lawrence General," Stickney said. It will be up to surgeons to decide if they can be reattached.
Santana was mowing alone in the back yard and tried to free the mower, a Walker GHS model, the type operated by someone sitting on a seat, with a vacuum catch behind the operator and a yellow mower deck at the front.
Two of Santana's co-workers, Teofil Mendez and Amando Chinchilla, both of Lynn, said Santana had apparently crouched down and tried to lift the mower free with his hands, only to have his feet slip underneath.
"Both his feet went under the deck. He hadn't turned off the mower," Stickney said.
Chinchilla said the blade cut through Santana's work boots on both feet, slicing the toe boxes several inches from their tips. He lost four toes on his left foot and three on his right.
After his feet fell below the mower, Santana walked approximately 100 feet to where Chinchilla was working at the front of the home. He said Santana remained conscious throughout the ordeal, and the men tried to stem the bleeding by wrapping Santana's calves. They called their boss, who called 911.
No one appeared to be home at the house where the landscapers were working.
Mendez and Chinchilla continued mowing the yard after the accident. Both said they were shaken by what happened.