'I Got Lucky I Didn't Bleed Out': Hunter Warns Of Meat Grinder Dangers After Losing Several Fingers

ALBERTVILLE, MINN. (WCCO) -- With hunting season underway, an Albertville marksman has a warning to all hunters after a grisly accident.

It all started for Wayne Roden in Emily as a trip to remember.

"It was like a 180-pound buck. It was a pretty nice deer," Roden said.

But it was followed by an incident Roden only wishes he could forget.

"We love venison and, you know, take care of it ourselves instead of paying someone," he said.

He pulled out an old grinder and started packing in his deer meat.

"It just grabbed the tip of my middle finger and took the whole hand, and I had to rip it out because it [was] just so fast," Roden said.

A neighbor and former Army medic ran over and applied a tourniquet to his arm before paramedics arrived.

"I got lucky I didn't bleed out," Roden said.

His pinky is the only finger that's intact. The other four were severed at different places. The damage is both physical and financial, as Roden is a father of four who works with hands.

"Hoping and praying that I'm able to go back in the HVAC field," he said.

Roden says he hasn't been able to sleep, reliving what he hopes no one else has to live through.

"I want people to be aware of the dangers of processing your own meat. If you don't watch what you're doing, it will literally only take a split second, and your life's gonna change," he said.

Roden isn't sure yet if he will ever be able to work again at the HVAC business that employs him. In the meantime, people in Albertville have already raised $19,000 through a GoFundMe page.

Roden warns fellow hunters who process their own meat to use a newer model with more safety regulations. And if you don't know what you're doing, he says pay a professional, as it's certainly worth the cost.