Team saves man with arm stuck in salt spreader in Woodbury, Minn.

WOODBURY, Minn. (KMSP) - Public safety officials saved a worker in Woodbury, Minn. from losing his arm after it got stuck in the large salt spreader he was cleaning Friday afternoon.

When the Woodbury Police and Fire Departments arrived on the scene at 2 p.m., they found 35-year-old Justin Johnson of South St. Paul standing on a ladder with his arm stuck in the conveyer of the salt spreader. Johnson had been balancing on a step stool and was able to turn off the salt spreader to keep it from pulling him further in using the remote he kept in his pocket. 

“I watched my wrist when it went in. I watched my wrist turn all the way around. My fingertips were touching my forearm,” Johnson said. “When I found the off button, it actually came up to my face and my shoulder, so it sucked me in all the way to my head and shoulder.”

A team of firefighters and public works officials were able to free Johnson’s arm in less than 45 minutes.

“I was thinking about my family and kids,” Johnson said.

Johnson had broken his right arm and was in shock. He was taken to the hospital, where he has since undergone the first in a number of surgeries he will have to have on his arm.

Woodbury Public Safety says the outlook is good and Johnson will hopefully continue to have full use of his right arm.

Johnson’s family has set up a GoFundMe page to help offset the costs of additional surgeries, medical costs and therapies. They have already raised more than $2,000.