Man Gets Trapped Under Fallen Tree...Cuts His Leg Off With Pocket Knife

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Logger Amputates Own Leg With Pocket Knife After Being Trapped Under Tree

Al Hill was trapped under a tree in a remote area of California

California - A man used pocket knives to amputate his own leg in order to free himself after being pinned under a tree for almost 11 hours.

Al Hill, 66, was cutting trees when a tree fell on his leg and trapped him.

Alone in the woods, and in an area where cellular phone service is spotty or nonexistent, Hill was forced to take the extreme measure to save himself.

Eventually, Eric Bockey, a neighbor in the area, heard Hill's cries for help. "Only me, Al and God were there that day," he said.

Bookey had to go nearly two miles to get a mobile phone signal and make an emergency call, which came in to a volunteer fire department about 7:30pm, Iowa Hill Fire Chief Luana Dowling said.

He and another neighbour loaded Hill onto a truck and took him to an emergency landing site in town where a helicopter then transported Hill to hospital.

He underwent amputation surgery, Dowling said, adding it was hard to believe that Hill did not go into shock.

"He's a pretty remarkable person," Dowling said. News of Hill's ordeal has captivated this tiny town about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento, where there is no electricity and few services for the roughly 200 residents.

In May 2003, a 27-year-old man from Colorado used a pocket knife to amputate his own arm below the elbow in a desperate bid to free himself after being trapped for five days under an 800-pound boulder in a national park in Utah.