A Man and
His Chainsaw

On a Sunday afternoon in February 2024, veterinarian Dave Almstrom and his son headed into the woods near their home in Meredith, N.H., to cut firewood—a hobby Dave loved “more than golf.” He was kneeling down, sawing through a maple tree, when disaster struck from above.

A 200-pound dead oak log, hidden within the branches of a hemlock tree, came crashing down onto his left arm and chainsaw. “Had it been this way, an inch, it would’ve killed me,” he says, motioning toward his chest. 

Dave’s son, Scott, rushed over, lifted the massive widowmaker, and dragged his father onto a snowbank, where they fashioned a makeshift splint from a flattened cardboard box.

“‘Take me to Dartmouth,’” Dave recalls saying.

Despite being an hour and 15 minutes away, Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, N.H. was the only option he would consider. After gallbladder surgery and cardiac care, his wife Betty having received treatment, and having taken three best friends there in emergencies—including one during a midnight snowstorm—“There was no question,” he says.

Out of His Hands

Upon his arrival at DHMC on that winter day in 2024, emergency room doctors swiftly realized the severity of Dave’s injury. After X-rays revealed the extent of the damage, surgeons performed intricate work, inserting three plates and approximately 24 screws to reconstruct his shattered arm.

“When I saw the X-rays after, it looked like a jeweler had done this,” says Dave, marveling at the surgeons’ skill. “The plates fit the bone perfectly in every way.”

But when the cast came off three weeks later, Dave’s hand was…frozen. He troubled to move his fingers. Bend his wrist. “I had good nerve supply and there was hardly any pain,” he clarifies. “Still, there was swelling and tissue damage from the accident. And being in one position for so long made it stiff.”

The team from DHMC’s Hand Occupational Therapy department was careful not to frighten Dave with predictions.

“They didn’t tell me at the time, but I found out later they were thinking it was going to take a year to get my hand function back,” Dave says.

He Came, He Conquered, He Sawed

Every session, Dave’s wife Betty jotted diligent notes for each exercise. “At home we applied all those exercises almost every night,” she says, adding that the therapists went above and beyond purely mechanical movements. “He didn’t just go to a repair shop. They were interested in David’s hobbies. He actually had a relationship with them.”

Assigned to work with four occupational hand specialists—Jennifer Chickering, OTR/L, CHT; Alison Sandborn, MS, OTR/L CHT; Michelle Gerow, OTR/L; and Elizabeth Shapiro, MS, OTR/L—Dave was initially concerned about the lack of continuity. Then the benefits dawned on him.

“If I have a second, a third, and a fourth, I’m gaining their knowledge,” he realized. “Each was a little different. All told me that occupational therapy shouldn’t be painful. Luckily, it wasn’t.”

One day, when Dave’s scheduled therapist, Chickering, the head of the occupational therapy hand clinic, came down from the hospital to ensure Dave didn’t miss his session. That dedication didn’t go unnoticed. And it expedited his recovery.

“Dave sustained a significant and impactful injury that had potential to eliminate his ability to provide veterinary care, including surgical procedures,” says Chickering. “He was dedicated and able to achieve gains at a rate much quicker than expected.”

In just four months—a third of the expected recovery time—Dave had full control of his hand again. Once again, he could work on his Model A cars, tinker with his blacksmith tools, and yes, even pick up a chainsaw.

“I went out and got a new chainsaw,” he says with a grin. “I don’t give up.”

‘They Really Got Me Through This’

Dave remains grateful for the teams at DHMC. As a veterinarian, Dave knows that success is predicated on teamwork. As a patient, so was his recovery.  

Ever a poet of reciprocity, Dave wanted the caregivers who had restored his ability to heal animals to benefit from that very skill. “He was generous with his knowledge and assisted all of us with our own pet care,” Chickering recalls.