Future concerns worker after losing half his arm
His job doesn't offer health insurance, and Medicare recently dropped him.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Dan Kuti is extremely worried about his future and that of his family.
"I have no clue," the 36-year-old Mineral Ridge man said Wednesday when asked what he'll do after losing half of his left arm in an industrial accident at a Niles plant.
He has a wife, two children -- and one on the way.
Kuti, of Ohltown-McDonald Road, lost the arm from the forearm down Tuesday evening while working at Vanex Tube Corp. on McKees Lane.
He remains in stable condition in St. Elizabeth Health Center where he is heavily medicated.
Kuti explained from his hospital bed that he was feeding cardboard into a roller when his glove was caught in the equipment and a portion of his arm was pulled off.
"My arm shot right into the machine," Kuti said. "I couldn't have foreseen it."
His friend Shawn Wright of Newton Falls quickly turned off the machine.
Kuti recalled that his arm was bleeding profusely and he was lying on the floor. Wright wrapped some rags around the arm.
Wright started to run for help, but Kuti told him he needed a tourniquet. His friend took off his shirt and put it around the arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"I knew I was hurt right away," Kuti recalled, noting that everybody was running to help him.
Rehabilitation to come
Already, St. Elizabeth's medical staff is discussing rehabilitation with him, and he is being fitted with a prothesis.
He's been told he'll have to undergo more surgeries.
Kuti is also concerned about his medical bills.
He has been receiving Medicare but was notified recently that it will be terminated because he was making too much money because of overtime.
He said he's paid $8.75 hourly without benefits at Vanex, where he has worked since June 2004.
A Vanex official didn't return a telephone call for comment.
The injured man said he doubts he will be able to return to Vanex because there aren't any jobs for a worker with his disability.
Kuti and his wife, Grace, have a 13-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl.
Grace Kuti said they both have family in the area for support.
"I have no idea. We'll take it day by day," she said of the family's future.
She noted her husband is doing "as well as can be expected. He's still in shock."
yovich@vindy.com