Impaled bell-ringer smashes jaw and narrowly avoids severing artery in his neck after falling on church’s giant chime
Robert Wood, 62, slipped and fell into the 106-year-old mechanism while doing maintenance work in a church
A BELL-RINGER smashed his jaw and narrowly missed severing an artery in his neck after he was impaled on one of the giant chimes he was cleaning.
Robert Wood, 62, slipped and fell into the 106-year-old mechanism while doing maintenance work in a church.
A metal peg penetrated his chin, but he was able to stagger down the belfry and summon help.
He was then flown by air ambulance to the major trauma centre at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, Tees.
Once at the specialist unit, Robert underwent a four-hour operation following the freak accident to repair his shattered jaw.
The retired environmental health officer was allowed home after five days, but now has metal plates holding his smashed jaw together.
Robert, of Ripon, North Yorks, suffered his fall at Middleham Church, near Wensleydale.
He said: "I was at the top of the tower, walking across the metal bell frame when I missed my footing and ended up landing chin-first onto a piece of the bell mechanism which had a rusty metal peg on the end.
"I managed to get myself off that and make my way down the ladder. It's amazing what you can do with adrenaline.
“It missed my major blood vessels by about 4mm. I wasn’t really conscious of the pain, the adrenaline kicked in and I just knew I had to get out of there.
“I was a bit upset. It finally hits you that you’ve had a close shave.
"It was jolly painful but I wasn't screaming out in agony. They gave me intravenous paracetamol when I got to the air ambulance which took away the pain almost immediately."
Robert, who is married with a grown-up daughter, was back up the bell tower within three weeks of the accident.
He said: "I was back bell ringing in about three weeks but it took me about three months to get back to full strength.
"Although it was a localised injury it still left me weak for a while.
"The only effects I have from it now is that I have a numb lip every now and then.
"I'm very lucky there is no major long-term damage."
Robert now hopes to raise funds for Yorkshire Air Ambulance by joining a three-hour bell-ringing marathon at Ripon Cathedral tomorrow.