In Memory of Chris Griffith

[Gary Lange]

Funeral for Christopher Lee "Hawg" Griffith, 39, of Hartselle will be Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008, at 1 p.m. at Oak Ridge United Methodist Church with Bro. Tom Elder officiating and Peck Funeral Home directing.
Burial will be in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Visitation will be tonight from 6 to 9 at the funeral home.
Mr. Griffith died Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008, at Huntsville Hospital. He was born April 8, 1969, in Morgan County to Ralph Leslie Griffith and Shirley Griffith. He was preceded in death by his mother.
Survivors include his wife, Terry Lynn Baker; his father, Ralph Leslie Griffith and his wife, Janice, of Hartselle; one brother, Gregg Griffith (Samantha) of Trinity; two sisters, Nanette Brannon (Jeff) of Georgia and Cyndee Shahan (Randy) of Hartselle; and several nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be B.J. Johnson, Gary Parker, Charles Sanders, Roy Wayne Griffith, Bruce Garner and Mark Woods.

Chris is the man who changed the blade on his Miter Saw but neglected to put the bolt back in it and it cost him his life. Please when changing blades on all your saw remember to replace and tighten the bolt or nut so that this doesn't happen again. It would be nice to have him remembered by someones life being saved.

[Dave Sweeney]

Please, pass on my sympathies to his family.

[Carroll Courtney]

So sorry for the loss of your friend.Please pass it on to the family that SMC sends its condolences(sorry for spell)Thank you for letting us know what happen so others may not make that costly mistake.

[Keith Starosta]

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Am I missing something here? I guess I didn't follow the other thread, because I'm pretty confused as to the motivation for somebody to use a thread like this to make deception allegations!

[John Williamson]

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Am I missing something here? I guess I didn't follow the other thread, because I'm pretty confused as to the motivation for somebody to use a thread like this to make deception allegations!


Original thread stated the blade came off the miter saw and severed his arm. I find the mechanisim and injury intriguing since I have personally worked on individuals with worse trauma that survived. I seems to me that if the blade was not bolted on it would have never come up to full RPM and would have lacked sufficent energy to sever an arm. I can see it severing an artery but not an entire limb. I'd like to see a little more info on the injury.

[Ben Rafael]

Wouldn't take much for someone with clotting problems to bleed to death.
A blade would only need to cut an artery, it wouldn't need to cut a limb in half.

Here is a link that has some credibility, this doesn't appear to be fraudulent.

http://www.legacy.com/DECATURDAILY/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=116959404

[Gary Lange]

Man, you don't let up, do you??

Richard

If it saves one life Richard it is worth all the abuse I have put up with. I don't have all the facts. Maybe it was a long way to the hospital and they couldn't stop the bleeding or perhaps he suffers from blood clots or whatever. His is gone from this earth and even a New Yorker should be able to show a little sympathy. It happened and how and why we may never know because nobody saw it happen and who it happened to is dead.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Gary,

I think you misunderstood Richard's response. He was referring to the poster who's posts I deleted. He was not criticizing you. He even quoted the guy.

[Lance Norris]

If it save one life Richard it is worth all the abuse I have put up with. His is gone from this earth and even a New Yorker should be able to show a little sympathy.

I think Richard was referring to the quote from Robin. Sorry to hear about your friend. Every time we use a power tool, we can be at risk of serious injury and some times, even death.

[Richard Wolf]

Gary, I am sorry for your loss. Ken & Lance have it right, I was responding to the poster above me, who has now been deleted, who can't seem to accept your story. Please don't sterotype me as a "Typical New Yorker". I live my life with the highest of morals, honesty, integrity and compassion. I go out of my way not to tread on anyone.
Sorry if you misunderstood me.

Richard

[Gary Lange]

I am not in any way fabricating or making it up. This happened and a Man lost his life a Wife lost her Husband and the Kids lost their Father. I have never and would never fabricate such a story. I have no reason and certainly have better things to do.

I too am sorry I misunderstood your post Richard please accept my apology. Those that find this amusing or a fabrication I feel sorry for you because you are so closed minded that you would think it can't happen. I think they said that about the Airplane before the Wright Bros. took flight.

[Dennis Peacock]

I used to live near Hartselle, AL and for a critical injury to someone that can bleed out quickly? It's a very long way to Decatur Hospital, Huntsville Hospital, and even further from UAB in Birmingham, AL.

I send my prayers for the surviving family and friends.

[Alex Shanku]

Why cant I find the original thread Gary made?

[Dennis Peacock]

Why cant I find the original thread Gary made?

It was moved to the moderator forum section.

[Mike Cutler]

Gary

Sometimes, in this the info (or info overload) era,we have become so jaded that we fail to act in accordance with proper social decorum. It's incredibly sad that you had to feel compelled to post Chris' obit to validate your original post.

I am sorry for the fact that you're message was met with skepticism and derision. I for one am grateful that you posted it. It is a reminder to all of us that freakish accidents can and will happen, and good folks die because of them.

I don't think any of us will ever know exactly what happened,and it's really not important. Your original message was what was most important., A man died in his shop, using a tool that we all use on a frequent basis.
Whether that tool was being used correctly or not is all morbid speculation. I for one don't care one way or the other. I take from this that a tool that I respected because of the ability to cut off fingers, or a hand, can actually be more dangerous.

Thank you for both threads.

Mike Cutler

[Gary Lange]

Thank You Mike I appreciate your post.

[Andy Casiello]

Gary,

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, and thank you for posting the information as a way of getting us all to take the time to slow down a little and make sure we're using the safest possible techniques. We all work around incredibly dangerous equipment, and we get comfortable with it. Reminders can help people.

I'm sorry that the original thread took on a posture where it was clear some doubted the validity of the story. I don't think they were doubting you - because you said you had very little info. Such is the way of the WWW - people don't always act the same as they would face to face.

Thanks again.

Andy

[Wade Lippman]

Wouldn't take much for someone with clotting problems to bleed to death.
A blade would only need to cut an artery, it wouldn't need to cut a limb in half.

Here is a link that has some credibility, this doesn't appear to be fraudulent.

http://www.legacy.com/DECATURDAILY/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=116959404

A search through the newspaper doesn't show anything on the accident.

[Travis Rassat]

Gary

Sometimes, in this the info (or info overload) era,we have become so jaded that we fail to act in accordance with proper social decorum. It's incredibly sad that you had to feel compelled to post Chris' obit to validate your original post.

I am sorry for the fact that you're message was met with skepticism and derision. I for one am grateful that you posted it. It is a reminder to all of us that freakish accidents can and will happen, and good folks die because of them.

I don't think any of us will ever know exactly what happened,and it's really not important. Your original message was what was most important., A man died in his shop, using a tool that we all use on a frequent basis.
Whether that tool was being used correctly or not is all morbid speculation. I for one don't care one way or the other. I take from this that a tool that I respected because of the ability to cut off fingers, or a hand, can actually be more dangerous.

Thank you for both threads.

Mike Cutler

Well said, Mike. I can't add anything to say it better.

I also appreciate your post, Gary. You made me think. My condolences go out to Chris's family and friends. With him in mind, tomorrow will be tool tune-up day.

[Martin Shupe]

I read the first thread, and now this one. I am sorry for the loss of your friend. I believe this is a good reminder that we should not become complacent in the shop. We had a saying in the Navy, "complacency kills". In this case, a simple mistake, or distraction, or something, led to this man's death.

Aviators are famous for wanting to know the cause of any aircraft mishap. It is not because we are ghouls, but because we want to find out what went wrong, so we can keep it from happening to us. Sometimes we can, but not always. The preliminary findings regarding the Madrid mishap point to the flaps not being set properly for takeoff. That mistake has been made before, and now someone else has made it. We hope by learning from the mistakes of others, perhaps we can avoid the same mistake ourselves. However, we are human, and it doesn't always work that way.

I, too, have wondered how this could happen....

Was the nut put on, but not tightened?

Was the nut never put on?

What distracted him from this task?

Once the arm was severed, was there no one who knew how to apply a tourniquet?

Unfortunately, the man who could answer the questions is no longer with us.

A man I have flown with lost four fingers on one hand to a miter saw. He was ashamed of it, and tried to hide his bad hand from people. I didn't ask him how it happened, but learned from a mutual friend that he had been holding wood and cutting 90 degree cuts, repeatedly. Then he changed the cut to 45 degrees, and held the wood in the same position, slicing his fingers clean off. His wife drove him to the hospital, but he rode in the pickup bed, because he didn't want to get blood all over the inside of the truck!

It took him a year to get his medical back so he could fly again.

I am sorry for your friend, but I think it would benefit us all to know exactly what went wrong.

Sadly, we will never know.

[Keith Starosta]

Gary

Sometimes, in this the info (or info overload) era,we have become so jaded that we fail to act in accordance with proper social decorum. It's incredibly sad that you had to feel compelled to post Chris' obit to validate your original post.

I am sorry for the fact that you're message was met with skepticism and derision. I for one am grateful that you posted it. It is a reminder to all of us that freakish accidents can and will happen, and good folks die because of them.

I don't think any of us will ever know exactly what happened,and it's really not important. Your original message was what was most important., A man died in his shop, using a tool that we all use on a frequent basis.
Whether that tool was being used correctly or not is all morbid speculation. I for one don't care one way or the other. I take from this that a tool that I respected because of the ability to cut off fingers, or a hand, can actually be more dangerous.

Thank you for both threads.

Mike Cutler

Extremely well said!!

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

- Keith

[Richard Wolf]

Here is the problem with moderation. I quoted someone that made a insensitive remark and responded to it. The insensitive post was deleted, Gary Lange thought the comment was directed at him and quoted me in his post. My post was than deleted because it contain the quote that was insensitive. The only thing left is my response which now looks like I am the insensitive one. What a mess.
Any way, let it be known, I never doubted Gary's post, my condolences to everyone involved, and I never took an aggressive attitude toward Gary.

Richard

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Here is the problem with moderation. I quoted someone that made a insensitive remark and responded to it. The insensitive post was deleted, Gary Lange thought the comment was directed at him and quoted me in his post. My post was than deleted because it contain the quote that was insensitive. The only thing left is my response which now looks like I am the insensitive one. What a mess.
Any way, let it be known, I never doubted Gary's post, my condolences to everyone involved, and I never took an aggressive attitude toward Gary.

Richard

Just for the record folks... Richard posted a reply to a member who made an extremely insensitive remark to the OP. Richard quoted the insensitive remark and stated "Man...You don't let up do you?" His statement was in response to the insensitive remark and not about the OPs thread. I came along after the fact and deleted the insensitive remark. Another Mod came along and decided it was improper to leave the insensitive remark quoted in Richard's post and thus deleted Richard's first reply containing the quote. The point is......Richard at no time, made any remark that was even slightly insensitive towards the Original Poster or the subject of this thread. He did, in fact, politely try to reprimand another member who made an insensitive remark.

[Richard Wolf]

Ken, thank you very much.

Richard

[John Shuk]

This is the most moderated forum on internet. Always changing past to look good in archives. Clifford

Just an observation by me.

And most of us are happy with and grateful to the mods.

[Glenn Clabo]

Richard...
I'm probably the one who screwed this up. We were all frustrated with the insulting remarks and trying to stay ahead of them. It's sometimes hard to get things right when all you really want to do is "speak" to those who want to hide behind their computers and make childish comments.
I sincerely apologize ... I sure didn't want to make someone like you look bad.

[Amanda WoodsAL]

Hi! My name is Amanda Woods. I am Chris' step-daughter. I just wanted to tell everyone "Thank You" for all of your thoughts and prayers. Chris was a talented and amazing man and we all love and miss him very much. Again, Thank You all from Chris' family and friends. We are blessed to have known and have had Chris in our lives. God Bless.

[Gary Lange]

Amanda, My thoughts and prayers are with you and your mother at this time in your life. It is very difficult to loose someone you love and someone so young. Please accept my deepest sympathy for your lose.