SABATTUS, Maine — A Leeds man was transported to Central Maine Medical Center Thursday morning after breaking his leg in a logging accident.
Philip Nickey, 59, was able to call 911 after freeing himself with a chainsaw from a downed tree that was pinning his leg against another tree.
Around 9 a.m., the Sabattus Police Department received a call from Androscoggin County Dispatch that an injured man was in the woods off Marsh Road in Sabattus. The only information provided by the caller was that he had severely broken his leg and was not able to exit the skidder he was operating. He was also losing consciousness. The exact location was unknown, but dispatch was able to locate the cell phone as being near 201 Marsh Road.
Sabattus Police Lieutenant Dan Davies was dispatched and located the skidder within minutes of the call near 201 Marsh Road. The man, identified as Nickey, was sitting in the skidder unable to exit the machine. Rescue was immediately summoned.
According to Nickey, he was logging the property and was securing downed trees to a twitch – a cabled device used to gather and drag trees with a skidder to a pick-up location. One of the trees in the stack sprang free and pinned Nickey’s leg against another tree. The force resulted in Nickey suffering a broken leg below the knee. Nickey was able to reach a nearby chainsaw, which he used to cut the tree and ultimately free his own leg.
From there, he managed to climb back into his skidder where his cell phone was located and immediately called 911 for help. Nickey then drove the skidder about a half-mile to the location where he was found by Lt. Davies.
Nickey was removed from the skidder and transported to Central Maine Medical Center for treatment to his injuries.
Sabattus Fire and Rescue responded along with United Rescue.
