Hal,
I made a very similar mistake with a GWS Slowstick. I turned the transmitter on then plugged the battery in. The motor lit up on full speed, even though I mad sure the throttle was off. I had the transmitter on the wrong plane with a reversed throttle setting. The prop probably would have stopped with little damage, had it hit my arm dead on. But just enough of the blades caught my forearm to give it over a dozen one inch cuts from my wrist to my elbow. Nothing serious, but I endured a few days of stinging and folks asking me if I got attacked by a cat.

I saw two serious prop strikes last year. One by a two stroke engine running high rpm's, and another by a giant scale gasser. The guy with the gasser caught a blade on the wrist, and easily could have bled to death. You could see the vein or artery (the one you check for a pulse) throbbing in the cut. But luckily it was not ruptured. I suppose the tendons protected it. He ended up with numerous stitches and some numbness. Some PT and OT and I believe he's almost back to normal.

Sorry for the gore, but I think it's good to share these prop strike stories. Every time I hear of or see one it makes for a nice course correction for any careless familiarity I may develop.