US: Man carrying own severed arm saved by workers on street

A man who stumbled along a street while carrying his own severed arm was saved by two public workers who saw him and happened to be trained in the use of tourniquets, authorities in Maine said.

“It had to be divine intervention because two of my best guys just happened to be there sanding sidewalks,” said Mary Ann Brenchick, director of Lewiston Public Works.

“It couldn’t have been better guys for this kind of situation.”

Witnesses said the man’s arm was cut off Friday near the shoulder, apparently in a workplace accident, the Sun Journal reported.

The members of the public works crew applied a tourniquet while waiting for an ambulance to arrive, according to Lewiston Police Lt. Derek St. Laurent.

“That probably saved his life,” St. Laurent said.

Investigators followed a trail of blood back to a business where several people said the man had been operating a band saw. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was alerted.

The injured man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital and was expected to survive, officials said. It was unclear whether surgeons were able to reattach his arm.

• Americas