Sawmill worker who lost arm, talks to teens
He heard his bones snapping. He smelled blood and wondered if he was screaming out loud or just in his head.
A co-worker used his belt as a tourniquet, saving Pomerinke’s life. But at 21, his world changed. His left arm was crushed. It had to be amputated just below the elbow.
“It was my first real job,” Pomerinke told students at East Valley High School on Tuesday. “I didn’t know anything, and it led to me wearing a prosthetic.”
Pomerinke, a resident of Longview, Washington, tells his story to about 7,000 high school students each year, emphasizing how a lack of proper safety training led to a preventable accident. The state Department of Labor and Industries sponsors his talks, using them to get teens thinking about workplace safety. Becky Kramer, SR. More here.
