Derek Oldfather has a stump where his left leg used to be.
He is happy — and many say lucky — to be alive.
From his hospital bed in Iowa City, Oldfather recounted how he became trapped in a conveyor belt on Dec. 28. More people than he could count or remember helped him live through a horrifying four-hour ordeal that ended with an amputation in a sand-filled pit at King's Material in Eldridge, which supplies concrete, masonry and other landscaping products and services.
The 30-year-old is alive today because of the quick actions of co-workers, as well as the incredible effort of the Eldridge Fire Department, Eldridge Police officers, paramedics from Medic EMS, Scott County sheriff's deputies, AirCare Emergency Transport medical staff and a two-man surgical team from University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics.
"I think about what all those people did for me," Oldfather said. "I think about how they all saved my life. I think about it everyday."
The day after he told his story, Oldfather was released from University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics.
Thursday, Dec. 28, just after 1 p.m.
Oldfather had been working at King's Material for just a month or more."It wasn't my first time working there," he said. "I had worked there on a project about eight years ago. But that project was all outdoors. This time I was inside. And I spent a lot of time in the pits.
"That's what we call the spots where the trucks come in and dump. They dump rock in one pit, and sand in the other. I was down in the sand pit because the conveyor belt kept getting jammed up. I was going down and digging the belt free, so it would run."
Oldfather didn't mind his time in the pits. He spent most of Wednesday, Dec. 27, digging out the conveyor belt. When more digging was required the next day, he enlisted the help of a co-worker named Freddie.
It was just after 1 p.m. when Oldfather and Freddie descended three flights of stairs into the pit.
"We were down there, each of us on a different side of the belt, and I was explaining to him what we were doing," Oldfather said. "And that's when the toe of my boot got caught in the belt.
The conveyor belt pulled in his boot, then his ankle. He screamed out to Freddie, who grabbed him around his shoulders and tried to pull him free of the conveyor belt. But it was too strong.
"I remember thinking, 'I'm going to die' and then I told Freddie to go get help," he said.
Oldfather remembered something else happening in the moments his leg was being dragged into the middle of the conveyor belt and crushed.
"I don't know how to tell this, really, but there was a moment where I went completely calm, and I knew what I needed to do," he said. "I reached up and pulled the emergency string that is over the entire belt. That stopped the belt. Then I got on my radio and I screamed for help."
At the same time Oldfather was screaming for his life, Freddie ran the three flights of stairs that lead out of the pit and into the main floor. There he found Eddie the maintenance man, who just heard Oldfather's frantic plea on the radio.
Eddie called 911. It was 1:17 p.m. From there, he made his way to Oldfather.
"Eddie saw me, and he just burst out crying. But he helped me. He got it together and told me I would be OK," Oldfather said. "I felt all this warmth on my leg, and I realized it was blood. I realized I was going to bleed to death.
"I said to Eddie, 'I'm going to die down here, aren't I?' and he said, 'No.' And then I realized we needed to stop the blood. I asked him to put his belt around my leg, and that is what he did."
Freddie and Eddie were the first of many people to help save Oldfather's life that afternoon.
Thursday, Dec. 28, 1:17 p.m.
Seconds after Eddie made the 911 call from his cellphone, officers from the Eldridge Police Department, Scott County Sheriff’s Department deputies, and firefighters from the Eldridge Fire Department were dispatched to King’s Material, 3800 S. 1st St.
Oldfather had somehow remained conscious after his lower leg was dragged into the conveyor belt. He said he could lean up and look down at the bottom of his boot. He knew he was in big trouble.
What the first responders found at the scene was described by Chuck Gipson as, "something I don't think any of us had ever seen."
Gipson is a quality and education manager for Medic EMS. He is 48 years old, has spent 28 years as a paramedic and has served as Medic EMs's scene manager that day.
"You always think you've seen it all — then you haven't seen it all," Gipson said. "My job, once I got there, was to make sure the scene was safe for the first responders. We were essentially underground, so my job was to find out that the air was safe and there weren't any conditions that were going to endanger the police, firefighters or paramedics down there with the young man."
What struck Gipson was the level of coordination between the various agencies that responded to the 911 call.
"An Eldridge police officer immediately called in AirCare. The paramedics and firefighters were making the young man comfortable. They had placed multiple tourniquets to stop blood flow, and an IV was established," Gipson said. "We were able to talk with Oldfather. He was conscious, so that helped a lot. And then the Eldridge fire chief made an important call."
Davenport man saved by team effort and on-site amputation at King's Material in Eldridge
Derek Oldfather thought he was going to die in a conveyor belt at King's Material in Eldridge. It wasn't his time.
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