HARTFORD, Conn. - Jonathan Metz had his left arm stuck in his furnace boiler for about 12 hours when he asked himself, "What would MacGyver do?" He concluded that amputating the limb was his only chance for survival.
The 31-year-old West Hartford man, who was released from a hospital on Monday, met with reporters Tuesday for the first time since getting his arm stuck in his furnace for two days and nearly cutting it off.
Metz, who is right-handed, said that when the thought of amputation first crossed his mind, he pushed it away. He considered every other option and thought of the resourceful 1980s television character who always found a way to use mundane objects in his surroundings to get himself out of tough situations.
"I definitely dithered for a few hours after coming up with the initial idea," he said. "I thought there must be some other way, so I kind of started looking around my surroundings again. Maybe there was something I missed. You know, what would MacGyver do if he were here?"
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Metz said he spent six hours psyching himself up for the self-amputation. He tried to yank the arm out, he used dirty oil from a catch basin to try to grease it, and finally he looked to his toolbox, which he had within reach.
His fantasy, he said, was that he could cut off the arm, run upstairs and put it in his freezer, call 911, then go to the hospital and get it reattached.
Metz said he first used a hacksaw blade, then a larger blade, which he hoped would make the operation go smoother. He nearly succeeded but couldn't make it through a bundle of nerves.
"I don't know how many strokes it took," he said. "But it was quite a few. So yes, every one, I was re-evaluating in some way: Was it too late to stop? Or what was the point where there was no going back?"
Metz, who lives alone, revealed Tuesday that the ordeal began after work on Monday night, June 7, not the day before, as doctors previously had said.
He had been trying to clean off the heating vents on his furnace boiler when he dropped either a brush or a vacuum attachment. He was reaching in to retrieve it when his arm became stuck between the boiler's funnel-like fins.
When he tried to pull it out, the fins tightened on his arm, cutting into it. The more he would struggle, the more it would cut, and the more his arm would swell.
"It very quickly became apparent that I had a major problem," he said. "I basically spent the next 12 hours screaming for help."
Eventually, he began noticing signs of infection and the smell of rotting flesh, and he starting thinking he had to cut the arm off. Doctors said the partial self-amputation prevented the spread of the infection to the rest of his body and saved his life.
Metz started and stopped a couple times, once when the blood flow became too much. He said he had to use a cord to fashion a second tourniquet, replacing the one he had made with his shirt. When he realized he still couldn't get the arm off, he resumed calling for help.
Thoughts of his fiancée, family, friends and his little beagle, Portia, kept him going, he said.
Co-workers at The Travelers, where Metz works in financial services, grew worried when he did not show up for work Tuesday and missed a softball game.
When Metz didn't answer the doorbell at his home Wednesday, June 9, a friend called police, who found Metz in the basement.
Firefighters ripped apart the furnace with heavy tools, including a spreader normally used to take the door off a car. Once they did, the arm just gave way.
His doctors said Metz is doing well. They hope to fit him for a prosthetic arm in the next month.
