An 85-year-old man with a history of depression was recovering in a Boston hospital Wednesday night after intentionally cutting off his right hand with a table saw.
Two Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the man’s home in Whitefield after receiving a report from members of his family that he had used a table saw to cut off his hand. Lt. Rand Maker said the Lincoln County Communication Center in Wiscasset got the emergency call around 5:10 p.m. Tuesday.
Deputies Brian Collamore and Ken Hatch determined that the man had intentionally cut his right hand off just above the wrist. They said he “actively resisted” their attempts to give him first aid.
Police are not identifying the man.
“He has had a history of depression and this was clearly an attempt to hurt himself,” Maker said. He said Collamore and Hatch recognized the seriousness of the wound and applied a tourniquet to the man’s hand, which stopped the bleeding. Maker credited the deputies with preventing the man from bleeding to death.
The man was flown by LifeFlight helicopter from Whitefield to Lewiston. Maker said the man was later transported from Lewiston to a Boston hospital., where doctors were going to try to reattach his hand. Maker said the man is expected to recover.
Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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