Man loses hand in crash
on Mount Graham

By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 6:54 AM MST

A Safford man had to have his hand amputated after it was crushed under his truck Friday night.

John Davis, 20, of Safford, was driving a lifted white Ford F-250 on the dirt portion of Highway 366 between Hospital Flat and Old Columbine when he hit a rough patch in the road. According to Department of Safety officer Steve Loya, Davis said his foot slipped off the brake and hit the accelerator as he neared a curve. Davis momentarily lost control and the truck veered up the side of the bank and tipped over. Davis allegedly told Loya he put his arm out of the window to brace himself as the truck tipped over, and it was crushed under the vehicle.

An off-duty Pima firefighter and paramedic from the Tucson Fire Department arrived at the scene and assisted Davis, according to a Graham County Dispatch report.

Davis was moved to the Columbine Forest Ranger Station, but a helicopter from Lifenet was not able to land at the location. Davis was moved farther down the mountain near the Turkey Flat area, where the helicopter picked him up and transported him to the University Medical Center in Tucson. He was listed as being in fair condition Monday and said he expected to be discharged later this week.

Davis' passenger, Kristy Levy, did not need medical assistance, according to Loya.

He classified the crash as a single-vehicle accident and said there were no indications of impairment.

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Comments

4 comment(s)

BUSTED wrote on Jul 14, 2009 9:28 AM:

" put your hands on anothers mans wife and you'll lose it! Sad but true story! "

Lifenet needs to go away wrote on Jul 6, 2009 7:38 AM:

" This patient needs to see a lawyer he could own Lifenet and everyone involved! YOU NEVER CANCEL AN AMBULANCE UP ON THAT MOUNTAIN! The treatment for this man was delayed 3 hours because of a DumbAss From Pima trying to be the hero! Could his arm/hand been saved if the treatment was givin in the golden hour? Lifenet needs to take a good hard look at there employees! If you cant land up there then have the ambulance transport the patient to a landing zone! Dont fly around for 2 hours in the wrong part of the mountain! "

BUSTED wrote on Jul 5, 2009 8:36 PM:

" Why was Kristy Levy with John Davis anyways? Hmmm.... "

my my my wrote on Jul 1, 2009 11:03 AM:

" You forgot to write that Star 3 who is a UofA police officer cancelled the ambulance which was only a few minutes away from the scene that took an hour to get to that point. So then the helicopter who couldnt land or find the place for that matter wasnt able to get to the patient for at least 3 hours. The poor patient was without pain medication for the whole time when an ambulance that was only minutes away had a box full of pain meds. "

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