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A pensioner has died after pricking his finger on a rose bush whilst gardening at home.
George Emmerson, 73, didn't realise a thorn from the plant he was pruning back had become embedded into his finger and developed blood poisoning.
His arm had to be amputated and he died a week after the apparently trivial incident.
Mr Emmerson was married with three children and three grandchildren, who have been stunned by the freak gardening tragedy.
Pensioner dies after pricking finger on rose bush
Seeded on Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:06 PM EDT
Article Source: the Mail online- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (11)
You hear these stories, but they never seem real to me ... A rosebush thorn can kill somebody?
I guess anything can give you blood poisoning if it's in there long enough.
#1 - Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:08 PM EDTI was trimming the raspberry canes today. Even with leather gloves the bigger thornes stick through. I've always watched out for snakes. Never thought about deadly thorns.
- 1 vote
#2 - Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:51 PM EDTSW Missouri Mule:
I've always watched out for snakes.
What kind of snakes do you have in Missoura?
Only a few that are poisonous, Copperhead, Water Moccasin or Cotton Mouth, and a couple rattlers. Otherwise I've seen Speckled and Prairie King snakes. Black King is the biggest at up to 8 feet or maybe more. They can climb straight up the side of a house. The best thing about king snakes is that they will kill the poisonous ones. The smallest I've seen are the Ring-neck, about 6-8 inches. I'm not afraid of snakes but don't like surprises. The only ones I'll kill are the poisonous around the house, only seen one, and that's because I don't want them nesting.
What state are you in?
- 1 vote
SW Missouri Mule:
Black King is the biggest at up to 8 feet or maybe more. They can climb straight up the side of a house.
Wow! That's impressive. They have suckers or something on their bellies?
The only ones I'll kill are the poisonous around the house, only seen one, and that's because I don't want them nesting.
Sounds like an excellent policy, particulary if you have young children and/or pets.
What state are you in?
Right now, I'm in Vermont. But I'm from the New Englad area generally. (I've lived as far South as New Haven, CT and as far north as Presque Isle, ME. Also as far West as San Francisco. I'm actually in the process of moving to England (UK) for a few years...
I think that there used to be rattlesnacks here in Vermont, but, apparently, they left a long time ago. Maybe it got too cold for them...?
I had the wrong snake. It is the Black Rat Snake, the king does not get as long. There are no suckers, I think it is something about the scales that allow it to cling in a way other snakes can't. I do try to leave the native animals alone. There is a "herd" of four deer that seem very comfortable in my yard unless I open the door. The only thing I try to remove is the armadillo because it does not belong here and is considered a nuisance animal.
My family lived in PA for three years. We only had 4 acres but it was very steep so we built the house so that the front fully exposed the basement but the back was level with the house. We could walk out the kitchen door to the woods. The only snake we saw was when my dad stepped on a rotted log and there was some kind of rattle snake.
Moving to UK for a few years sounds exciting. I hope you get to take full advantage of the time there to explore some of the places the tourists don't see. Do you have people there? Is there a Newsvine group of people in the area you will be going? I know a few I've interacted with here but not in depth and not sure what part. Anyway, all the best to you going from New England to Old? England.
Gail aka Mule
SW Missouri Mule:
My family lived in PA for three years. We only had 4 acres but it was very steep so we built the house so that the front fully exposed the basement but the back was level with the house.
I've seen those style of houses. It always seemed to me that the basements in them would be good for storing food that needed to be cool/cold. I also lived close to some houses that were built almost underground in ME -- I guess the ground insulates them cost effectively during the winter (and summer, actually) months.
Picturing your PA house reminded me of the time when one of my neighbors in VT -- a builder -- decided to put an entire two-story house!! on a low-loader, hook it up to his tractor and drive the whole thing about 200 yards down our paved but narrow little road to the new site.
He brought down half of the branches over hanging the road on the way -- the ones he hadn't already cut down in preparation for the move. It took him about 12 hours just to get the thing moved. The police had to detour traffic away from our road.. It was quite impressive, actually.
lol! Not sure what that has to do with anything ... :-)
Do you have people there?
I have a bunch of family there. I've spent a lot of time there over the years. Now that my kids are getting to be adults, I really want to take some time to settle in England and visit mainland Europe.
I'm also fairly acvtive in the anti-globalization movement, and the EU is the epicenter of globalization right now, with the UK the epicenter of the EU's abusive anti-civil rights practices. So I'm glad I'll be where the action is, so to speak.
Anyway, all the best to you going from New England to Old? England.
Thank you. It won't be for a few of months yet... But the time does seem to be rushing by!
:-)
- 1 vote
Well that's sad.... It can sure happen, though. Just about anything has the ability to kill us.
:(
- 1 vote
#3 - Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:25 PM EDTA rose by any other name...
...can still kill you...
Freaky!
- 1 vote
#4 - Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:02 AM EDTWe see overwhelming skin infections in the hospital occasionally. A bacteria that travels fast and results in a rapidly growing infection that is hard to control. It can result from many causes. Some patients are more at risk than others but I have seen it happen to perfectly healthy individuals. Most often these are as a result of staph infections. Staph is everywhere in our environment.
- 1 vote
#5 - Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:01 AM EDTtdk:
but I have seen it happen to perfectly healthy individuals.
That's troubling.
I once saw an ad for a nose air clipper that said it could save your life, because you could get blood poisoning from yanking out your own nose hair ... I always thought that was a scam, but now I'm not so sure ...
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