The Fallen Tree

The Book of Ron · 28 of 48 · 2 minute read · Ron’s title: The Tree on the Roof

During Hurricane Hugo, a neighbor had a large tree fall onto the roof of their home. The limb had broken through the roof, and his wife was pregnant and due to deliver at any moment. They were frightened, so they left to stay with her parents until the storm settled down.

I went over to help. No one knew I was there. I climbed up onto the roof with a chainsaw to cut the tree away from the house so the damage would not get worse.

While I was working, another tree blew down.

It came down hard and pinned me between the roof and the tree. My leg was trapped under the weight, and the pressure was crushing. I could barely move. I realized very quickly that if I didn’t get myself out, no one would know where I was or how to find me.

The only tool I had was the chainsaw lying a few feet away.

I managed to reach out and snag a branch and slowly pull it toward me. But to free my leg, I had to cut upward between my own legs. The chainsaw blade was only about an inch from my skin and the artery in my leg.

The weight of the tree meant I could not cut downward. If I did, the saw would bind. The only direction I could cut was up, toward myself.

The pain was unbearable.

I steadied the saw as best I could and began cutting. The saw bucked a little as the pressure shifted, and I remember thinking that if that blade slipped just a little bit, I would cut straight into my leg and bleed to death right there on that roof.

But the truth is, I had no option.

I could not simply lie there and wait for help. Eventually someone might have come along, but the pain was too intense. I could not continue lying there like that.

My only option was to cut.

Little by little the wood gave way, and finally the pressure released.

When the weight of the tree lifted off my leg, a blinding white light shot through my body as the nerves suddenly came back to life. The pain was so intense I almost passed out.

Fortunately, I had a backhoe parked beside the roof.

I crawled to the edge of the roof, swung myself over, grabbed the front bucket, and lowered myself down as far as I could. Then I let go and dropped the rest of the way to the ground.

I hobbled around to the front of the house and sat down to wait for someone to come by and see me so they could call an ambulance. This was before cell phones. If someone didn’t come along, I was simply going to sit there until they did.

That day taught me a couple of lessons I never forgot.

This story has a workbook — how to use it with the person across from you, and the point of it. Read the workbook for The Fallen Tree · All the workbooks.