Aug. 14--A San Anselmo grocery worker whose right arm was mangled in a meat grinder Monday says he did not lose the arm.
"I'm doing OK," Lee Sparks, 28, said Tuesday from his hospital room. "My arm is attached and I can wiggle my fingers."
Sparks, a meat-cutter at the Andronico's on Center Boulevard, got his right forearm caught in a grinder at about 5:30 p.m. Monday. Although Ross Valley firefighters initially reported the incident as a full amputation, Chip Kegley, an Andronico's spokesman, said it does not appear the forearm was fully severed.
Sparks, a Rohnert Park resident, was conscious when firefighters arrived. Ross Valley paramedics took him to Marin General Hospital, and from there he was flown to Stanford University Medical Center.
Sparks was still at Stanford on Tuesday afternoon and said he did not know when he would be released. He said he did not want to talk about the incident.
The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal-OSHA, is investigating the incident, said spokesman Peter Melton. He said Cal-OSHA has six months to investigate workplace injuries and determine whether there should be citations for safety violations.
Rebecca Mattie, a San Rafael resident, said she was in the Andronico's store Monday just moments after the calamity. Mattie, who dropped by to pick up one item, ground beef, heard moans and screaming coming from the back and saw employees with ashen faces.
"There were a few people, customers and workers, walking quite swiftly from back to the front," she said. "One woman in particular who worked there -- you could tell she had just witnessed a horrible scene. I asked her what happened, and she couldn't speak."
Mattie, who was with her two small children, saw the police arrive and decided to leave, in case there had been violence.
"You could feel that energy in there -- something dreadful had happened," she said. "It's not that it will deter me from going back there. But it was clearly an unfortunate accident -- and bad timing on my part."
Contact Gary Klien via email at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/GaryKlien
Copyright 2013 - The Marin Independent Journal, Novato, Calif.
