Iam the guy who fell and dunked my right arm to the elbow in a deep fryer AMA!

My first mental image was your arm all crisy and golden like fried chicken.

Then I pictured the burns. What degree of burn did you suffer?

2nd, 3rd, and 4th in various areas up to the elbow

Did it hurt ?

Yeah just a bit, ha but seriously for about 5 seconds I thought I would just walk it off

Did you cry?

Oh yeah haha I actually busted out a Tonya Harding WHY?! WHY?! WHY??!!!

FTFY *Nancy Kerrigan

Haha right ^

did you pull it out yourself or was somebody there to pull you back?

I thought I "pulled out" and imeadiatly jumped to the ceiling, but I've heard different accounts in which I was pulled back

Do you have a full range of function and sensation?

Pretty much full motion, the sensation is mostly gone on the forearm

So you could do it again and it wouldn't hurt?

I don't think that's how it works? I did try to work once I was fully healed but quickly figured out I wasn't able to be around fryers anymore

I worked at a McDonald's for a month or 2 when staying at my sisters in Florida for a summer. I was deathly afraid of walking past the fryer or using it even though not thing like this has ever happens to me.

TL;DR: Damn fryers; you scary

Edit: Thanks /u/birdwax didn't think of Ollie.

Damn fryers you scary!

Get a lot of sympathy bj's or pussy after this ?

Haha coming from you Mr. North? I was actually dating a girl at the time and pretty much got what I wanted. I was on a lot of pain killers at the time though which is not conducive to the penis functioning.

(Not the real Peter north)

You can't lie on the inter webs!!

Do you now use an air fryer at home? My air fryer changed my life

You've changed my life haha I just looked them up. How has no one shown ME?!

Ehhh... you'll be pretty disappointed. It's not the same. They take forever. Like easily twice as long as a regular dee p fryer. Also, all that crispness you get from a deep fryer, completely forget about it. Maybe they're alright for some people, but if you actually enjoy fried foods, an air fryer is an extremely overpriced convection oven.

I've been working in kitchens for 8 years though, so I get salty about these kinds of things.

Haha yeah I was kinda feigning enthusiasm. An over priced convection oven it indeed is. I still like to cook and am still an American from the south so I'm a sucker for fried food

Obviously it hurt like hell, but after some time did you go into shock and the pain lessened?

I guess I went into shock cause I don't remember much or I remember details that didn't happen. The pain never really lessened I was given morphine, Demerol, and delodid until I finally passed out in the er

What right arm activity did you miss most during your healing process?

It is my dominant hand, but I quickly picked up being ambidextrous. That being said I think missing using both hands was the worst. For like 6 months it would take a while to get dressed, type, stuff I took for granted

Yea. I lost mobility in my left hand for about 6 months after an accident. I used to be ambidextrous. 10 years later and I still haven't gotten back to being totally ambidextrous. I've broken fingers in my dominant right hand and one of the hardest parts was wiping my ass with my left.

Brushing my teeth I think was the hardest, super awkward for awhile

I just went to my bathroom and tried brushing left handed. God damn that is a pain in the ass. I would have just put a bullet in my head if I was refined to just my left hand. You got my respect man.

Thanks man! Don't take anything for granted...

Did you have an incredibly small pinky finger your entire life, or is that a result of the accident?

Haha it's just bent a little under my hand

What was the surgical process for this? It looks like they had to take a lot of skin grafts, where did they get them from? Also what would be your zaniest, painkillers are fucked up story?

It was actually only two surgeries initially, both were 8 or so hours each. The first the day after the accident in which they scraped it clean and put cadaver skin over most of it. The second surgery they removed the cadaver skin and grafted skin from my thigh. They pretty much take a cheese grater to it and take as many strips as they need. I never really liked the painkillers, they are pretty fucked up. That being said, I used to forget to wear clothes around the house my roommates didn't really care but their friends did

Can I be your roomate? I have no friends, so it's all good.

Just moved to Charlotte NC come on by!

704 checking in!

Let's grab a drink Charlotte redditors!

Ouch! Who helped you to call 911?

There were 4 or 5 guys in the kitchen at the time, like an hour before we opened. It was actually the bartender who was maybe 200 feet away at the bar that called after he heard my first scream

How's your sense of humor about it now? Just a painful memory, or something alleviated by some joshing now and then?

I've tried to stay upbeat about it. I had some therapy after I physically healed but hey, tis just a flesh wound

Did it smell like bacon?

No idea, too much pain

What does it smell like now tho?

Thigh, great question!

Doesn't look that bad in the pic

That's after 5 years and several surgeries, trying to find old pics from after the first surgery

How is that proof? There are no burns on your arm at all. More proof please.

Trying to dig up pics from after the surgery. This is after several surgeries and 5 years later

I dipped my finger up to the first knuckle on accident and it pretty much felt like it was on fire. I can't i imagine how you felt. Did you go into shock at all?

Yeah I think so but I think I was still in a lot of pain, my memories go in and out

Simple question.

How did it feel?

Like a million bees constantly stinging. It got progressively worse even with drugs

How do you feel about the deep fryer scene in Watchmen?

As much as I like that movie that scene is totally unrealistic haha

why unrealistic? bc breaking glass with his elbow?

Haha yeah, no I'm just thinking he would almost instantly pass out the reaction seemed mild to me

If you had zero medical insurance at the time of the accident would your treatment have been reduced in any way?

same treatment but owe $40,000 bill?

Not sure, I'm pretty sure every employer has to have workers comp insurance which in my case was almost imeadiatly called upon. And $40,000? Prob closer to $500,000 when it was all said and done

I'm curious, did workers comp cover the whole bill? Did you suffer any out of pocket expenses?

Yeah covered everything, I paid out of pocket for some persciptions and cabs to appointments and such but was reimbursed. I had a great lawyer to deal with the employers workers comp insurance company

I had a similar experience! Counter top deep fryer in the satellite kitchen was set up on a wonky table and flipped over spilling oil on my arm down my side and into my shoes. Worst burns on my arm and ankles. All deep thickness burns. Lots of lancing the boils at the er.

Huge amounts of pain over time biggest issue was that you have to remember all of those wounds are open at all times now. I got a staph infection on one of my ankle and couldn't walk. That was the most painful thing I've ever dealt with. Don't do that.

Good Luck! Don't forget to get your work comp settled out immediately, your owners won't care and don't expect anyone to hold a job for you while you recover. Seems like you weren't on the clock so they may not cover you at all did you get on the clock at all or are they going to cover you anyway?

Agh yeah fortunately I had everything wrapped up nicely and never had to deal with infection or anything on top of the burns. The accident was 5 years ago and I've been settled up for about a year and a half now. I actually wasn't on the clock at the time but the owner was right behind me when it happened and was tore up about it

Nice! I feel like I remember smelling a lot like fry oil for months. Clothes were ruined too. Your arm looked about like mine after a few months, was that a recent pic? It took about 4 years the sharing to fade for me.

I think they cut my shirt off on the way to the hospital or in the ER I could have sworn I pulled it off immediately but that's what they tell me. Yeah I took that pic earlier for this AMA haha it's been 5 years since the accident but it's pretty much gonna look like that for the rest of my life

As part of my job is repairing fryers. Including 400-500 degree fryers. Do you have any safety tips to prevent me from getting any body parts inside?

I mean it was really just a freak accident, but just be aware of your surroundings. I'm sure you know about more safety tips than I do haha stay safe brother

why is your pinky finger so small? did it shrink because of the deep fryer?

Ha no I just don't know how to take a picture and it's kinda curled behind my ring finger

So how do you fell about fryers now? Do you still operate them, or did they kind of remove you away from them?

Not a fan, I tried to go back when I first healed and was cleared. Just being around in that same room gave me anxiety and after a couple days I couldn't do it so they just moved me to bartender. I try to be mentally tough about it but my body still freaks out

Do you have pics of it when it was burnt?

I have some after they took off the first bandages that I'm trying to find, I will post them when I can. Just realizing I didn't take many photos for about a year as I healed which I now regret

Do you still eat deep-fried food? Do you experience deep-fried food differently now after the accident?

Unfortunately I do enjoy fried food still, I hear it's not great for you? I don't think I really experience it differently, I don't really think about it

Removed? But why..!?

I have to provide more proof, trying to figure it out. I'm new and idk what to do! Haha

Did you sue?

No, I was close with the owners and it was a freak accident. Not the litigious type, workers comp took care of it