J
jollyjacktar
Guest
full story and photos at link below
Pictured: Grandfather, 68, who cut his face off with a chainsaw - and drove himself to hospital after 'tying his head together'
Man drives himself to hospital after 'slicing his face open with a chainsaw'
Bill Singleton, 68, was working on his property in Ballarat, near Melbourne
Gruesome hospital photos show the extent of the grandfather's injury
The 68-year-old lost control of his chainsaw and cut into his face on May 6
Surgeons said he was 'one centimetre' from severing his carotid artery
By Liam Quinn and Daniel Peters For Daily Mail Australia
Published: 09:58 GMT, 1 June 2016 | Updated: 14:14 GMT, 1 June 2016
A grandfather who sliced his face in half with a chainsaw and drove himself to hospital after 'tying his head together' looked like 'something out of a science fiction movie.'
Gruesome post-surgery hospital photos show just how close Bill Singleton, 68, was to dying when he lost control of his chainsaw while working alone on his property in Ballarat, west of Melbourne.
In one image, bloodied stitches run up through Mr Singleton's lower neck all the way to the middle of his jaw - a testament to the impressive work done by surgeons to piece together his face.
An x-ray of of the 68-year-old's head shows the huge hole that was cut into his face by the chainsaw, which went as far back as his wisdom teeth, according to the Herald Sun.
Mr Singleton was chopping wood on his isolated property on May 6 when his chainsaw hit a large tree trunk that the grandfather had not seen, sending it up into his face.
'All I felt and heard was the crack of the blade going through my bottom jaw,' Mr Singleton told Channel 7.
He desperately made his way to his car and started driving to the nearest hospital because he was unable to call for an ambulance after slicing his tongue in half.
The grandfather's fight for survival didn't end when he pulled into the hospital car park, with the 68-year-old saying he almost passed out and had to force himself to get back up.
'I was two thirds of the way there and things started to spin, the lights went dark... I dropped to my knees and was on all fours,' he told the newspaper.
Mr Singleton was quickly airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, after staff looked at his wounds and saw he had cut into his face as far back as his wisdom teeth.
But luckily, the chainsaw stopped just a centimetre short of his carotid artery and larynx, according to the Herald Sun.
'He basically just looked like someone who was a gunshot wound victim. He split the whole part of his face open,' surgeon Professor Nastri told 3AW Mornings.
'It was like something out of a science fiction movie.'
An x-ray of of the 68-year-old's head shows the huge hole that was cut into his face by the chainsaw.
A large gap is visible in the x-ray, while it is also possible to identify where the teeth knocked out by the blade had been.
'If he got that carotid artery in the paddock, the freeway of the arteries, he'd probably be dead,' Professor Alf Nastri said.
'When a chainsaw grabs, it grabs and goes deeper. It was not dissimilar to treating a gunshot wound.'
Mr Singleton is back at home recovering, and said he will continue to work with chainsaws in future.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3619377/Grandfather-68-cut-face-chainsaw-Ballarat-property.html#ixzz4ALO1e2T3
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook