Tree surgeon saved from 30 feet up in Stourbridge
A man was lucky to escape serious injury after been left dangling upside down from a tree when he fell and his leg became trapped between two branches.
The incident brought chaos to a Stourbridge neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon as emergency services descended on the scene and mounted an intricate rescue operation.
The 31-year-old tree surgeon was cutting away branches with a chainsaw near the top of a towering oak tree when one of the branches gave way.
Fellow workers watched on in horror as he jumped back flinging the chainsaw to the ground only for his leg to get caught leaving him hanging perilously 30ft from the ground.
Three fire crews, paramedics, an air ambulance and land ambulances rushed to the scene at the end of Wrekin Drive around 2.30pm.
Firefighters needed a hydraulic platform to reach the man and when they did concerns heightened because there was no pulse in his leg which had turned blue.
The casualty was given pain relief while delicate rope pulley systems were set up to stop the branch falling any further and to hold the man in place when he was suddenly released.
He was finally freed after two an half hours and was driven by ambulance to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley when the injury to his leg was less serious than first feared.
Residents watched with concern as the rescue brought their road to a standstill.
Julie Maxwell said: "I just heard a scream and a commotion going on outside.
"My neighbour called me and I just saw this man stuck, something had wedged him in.
"The fire service arrived and then all sorts of emergency services came. The air ambulance landed in the park.
"The whole road was blocked off."
