18-year-old loses foot in tree removal accident, reunites with man who saved his life
WALLACE, N.C. (WECT/Gray News) - While at the hospital, an 18-year-old man from North Carolina who lost his foot in a tree removal accident was unexpectedly reunited with the man who saved his life.
Bryson Wilkinson, 18, is learning to live with a new reality after losing his right foot in a freak accident while working for a tree removal service out of Wallace. He was at the end of his workday as a groundman trainee May 21 when his leg was caught in a rope, WECT reports.
“It somehow managed to pull it [his leg] under that tree. It dug me through the ground,” he said. “I thought I still had my leg ‘cause all I felt was pressure. Then, I go to lift up, and I realize that my leg weren’t there no more.”
In video captured shortly after the accident, a man named Gary Caldwell, who was living on the property at the time, jumped into action to save Wilkinson. He applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
“I thought it was over for me. I thought that was about to be the end of my life,” Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson was rushed to Novant New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, where he underwent surgery to amputate part of his leg.
Just two days later, Caldwell would end up fighting for his own life after a motorcycle accident. He ended up in a hospital room just down the hall from Wilkinson.
Wilkinson says it was the doctors who made the connection. The two were reunited, bonded not only through the accident but their journey to recovery together.
“As soon as I walked in, I broke down crying. I couldn’t believe it,” said Wilkinson about the reunion. “I’m going to keep staying in touch with him as long as I can.”
Wilkinson’s family was also there to thank Caldwell for saving their son, calling it an act of God.
“I told him, ‘If it wasn’t for you, my son might not have been here,’” Wilkinson’s father said.
Though Wilkinson’s life has forever changed after the accident, it’s far from over. In fact, now home from the hospital, he says it’s just beginning.
“I want to tell people that their life’s not over if they lose a limb. Things happen,” he said. “They can get past it in life. They don’t need to give up. They don’t need to lose hope.”
Wilkinson has turned to posting his journey on TikTok, amassing over 3,000 followers in just five days.
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