Serious Auger Injury - Be Careful Guys

Just wanted to fill you guys in on a serious injury my brother suffered this weekend in hopes that it will bring awareness to someone and possibly prevent future injuries. My brother was using my jiffy power auger to drill holes yesterday up in Vilas County. As those of you who have a newer jiffy auger, these augers are pretty heavy so he was carrying the auger a long distance by its shaft while it was running. When he got to his next spot he swung the handle up to his other hand and accidentally hit the throttle. The auger engaged instantly and his glove wrapped around the shaft pulling his hand with it. He dropped the auger and we saw blood and bone instantly. He putt pressure on it immediately and you could see that his fingers were hanging at a wrong angle. We thought he had severed a couple of them, but didn't want to release the pressure to look. We were 1 hour from the closest hospital so we called 911 and I ended up driving him to meet the ambulance who then rushed him to Howard Young. They did what they could for him and rushed him down to a hand surgeon in Marshfield. A few hours of surgery and he is on the road to recovery. Looks like he will keep all his fingers and will probably get most of the usage back on them, surgeon said he was very lucky! I know a lot of people will read this and say what idiot carries a running auger by the shaft, but I can tell you I see it all the time. But I guarantee you we will never make that mistake again!

The staff at Marshfield are top notch. Big city skills and small town care.

Thanks for the warning Hildy Boys. That's a lesson we don't want to learn the hard way.

Well that sure is good news! Hope everything continues on the right track for him. Amazing the things that can happen in the blink of an eye......

Hey Guys, I thought I would give you all an update on my brother. He is well on on the road to recovery, and doctor tells him he should make a full recovery for the most part. He no longer wears a splint and looking at it it looks mostly normal. He is in physical therapy and is struggling a bit with getting the motion back in the fingers. He works them every day and by the time he goes to bed he has fairly decent movement, but when he wakes in the morning it's like starting all over. Just wanted to thank you all for the kind words and support, you are a great group of guys!

Hildy wishing your brother a speedy recovery and hope he gets back on the ice soon. Tight lines.

I feel Moonglo's pain from a few posts down. Carrying a mora auger to drill a new hole I slipped on the ice and the cutting head doinked against my knee. It cut thru my heavy suit. It also cut thru my pants, long johns, and the skin of the corner of my knee right to the bone. Youch....

I read the original post a couple of times, I see the injury happened while "only" contacting the auger and "not" the blades. Good thing! Lets all walk away from this with a lesson learned. Here's to a rapid recovery.

Thanks for the post, I know I have carried my auger the same way when running strings of tipups. I will not be anymore, hope everything works out in the recovery. koco

I have a 4 inch laser hand auger. I was attempting to put the plastic cover over the blade and the cover slipped off and through the force I was using trying to connect the rubber on the cover to one side and the other I missed and raked my finger over the blade and it cut me down to the bone. They are sharp!!! Something like that could ruin a fishing trip. Carry a first aid kit.

Hildy Boys Hope your brother has all use of his hand and speedy recovery. I sure made dumb mistakes and don't know any guys who didn't. I think your post is very considerate and will prevent injuries.

way back when I got my first hand auger I thought I would try some early ice fishing over by fondulac. I was picking up to move and didnt relize that my golden retriever jack was sniffing the blade for some reason. I didnt even know I touched him with it. Right on the nose. Poor guy, it took about a half a pack of mcdonalds napkins and 14 stiches to close the slice. I felt really bad for my buddie but it was a good thing to have a truck with a cap on it. It looked like I slaughtered a pig back there. And I thank mcdonalds for all the napkins without ordering anything. They are very sharp. Be careful and aware of what your doing and your surroundings. I hope your brother heals well and it dont deter him from enjoyment of ice fishing.

Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Thanks for the kind words guys. My brother is doing well and the pain is less and less every day. Anyone want to buy an auger?

I did the same thing as your brother about 11 years ago. I paid the price with a broken thumb and half a dozen stitches. I wish him well. BTW - my thumb's still crooked!

Thanks for the post and best wishes to your brother. I'm seeing a lot of old Jiffy's with the tiller handle showing up for sale. If anyone uses one be careful. If the hand on the tiller comes off, the tiller swings around and hits the wrist of the hand pulling the throttle on the top. I've gotten severe sprains and others have had broken wrists.