Man Trapped by Boulder Amputates Leg

A 38-year-old man amputated his own leg and crawled to his car to reach help after he was trapped under a boulder in the mountains, hospital authorities said Wednesday.

William Jeracki took the desperate action to save his life and then dragged himself a half mile to his car and drove for help.

“He tried for a long period of time to move the boulder and to free his leg. It was--as he described it--broken and he just got to a point where he was more concerned about his life than he was about his limb,” Dr. David Cionni told reporters.

“He’s in serious condition, in surgery and he’s lost the lower part of his left leg,” said Suzanne Woodruff, a hospital spokeswoman.

Jeracki, a physician’s assistant, was walking to a fishing hole at St. Mary’s Glacier in the mountains outside Denver when a boulder fell on his leg and trapped it. Emergency physicians decided too much time had elapsed to reattach the leg.