Former Baraboo firefighter Tate Robinson described his emotions as he rushed to his co-worker Andy Hansen in one word: “terror.”
That feeling was mixed with uncertainty. Robinson had just been approached by a resident of the Pewaukee neighborhood where he was trimming trees. The bystander told Robinson that Hansen had been injured by a chainsaw.
He rushed to Hansen, who was sitting down on the stump he had just been trying to cut. Robinson said he didn’t believe it had actually happened until he saw the large, deep gash on his co-worker’s leg.
“It’s probably one of the worst injuries I’ve ever seen,” Robinson said.
And it was life-threatening, Hansen said. His doctors at Froedtert Hospital told him that if the cut had been just one centimeter off, the saw would have severed his femoral artery. If that had happened, not even Robinson’s quick actions would have been likely to save Hansen’s life.