Would You Give Your Arm to Try and Fix Your Own Furnace?
By now, you may have heard of Jonathan Metz, a Connecticut man who was trying to fix his own furnace boiler, when his arm was wedged between two heating cores and got stuck. With nobody home and no way to call for help, (The furnace was in the basement, not near a phone) Jonathan made the hard decision on day 3, and amputated his own arm.
Metz said he had been trying to clean the heating vents on his boiler when he dropped either a brush or a vacuum attachment inside. He was reaching in to retrieve it when his arm became stuck between the funnel-like fins of the boiler. When he tried to pull it out, the fins tightened on his arm, cutting into it. The more he struggled, the more it cut, and the more his arm swelled. (Source: Washington Post)
Let me just say... I can't imagine having to amputate my own arm to get unstuck from ANYTHING!
Always Evaluate Risk Versus Reward of DIY Projects
As tragic as this is for Jonathan and everyone around him, it really is a good time to remind everyone that with thousands of DIY websites (Like this one) on the web, nobody ever covers all the things that could go wrong. In this case, knowing more about the inner structure of the furnace itself... may have made a bit of difference!
