DON'T LOOK AT THE PICTURES IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY BLOOD. I ATTACH HOPING IT WILL MAKE EVERY ONE MORE CAREFUL.

Sorry about your mishap. I had a bad prop accident on the 23rd of March and have severe damage to my left hand. My first accident in nearly thirty years of flying large and small and until this a cut from an .049 prop while flipping it was the worst event I had. I had my large Airtrax restrained with my usual steal holding devise driven in the pavement 12" in a hole drilled for that purpose,with two 1/2 inch steal rods in front of the horiz. stab, but did not notice that while I ws fueling the plane it rolled backward in the restraint a few inches. I had been working on this 3.2ci SD engine's CD ign and knew it would crank but I had the throttle set over 1/2 (another oversite) and it cranked first flip of the prop. When it did the plane lunged forward to a stop in the restraint, but I had instinctively dropped my hand to ward it off when the 22 inch prop contacted my hand, severed my little finger and real bad cuts to ring finger and the next. It cut my wedding band in half and this may have saved me from more damage as I think that is when the prop shattered. I include some very graphic photos only to make you aware of what just one time of not taking every precaution can result in. I am luckier than some of the guys in this forum in that I have no tendons or ligament damage. If you have a weak stomach do not look at the photos. I have run this enging and other large engings in this restraint but had always in the past chocked behind the front wheels so it couldn't roll back. I just plain forgot to do it. I also know not to fly unless someone else is present but I was at my home and alone at the time. My wife drove up just as I collapsed and rushed me to the ER where the best finger and hand Doc anywhere just happened to be on duty that morning. I am on the way to recovery and will complety recovere except for the numness of the fingers that the nerves were cut in, Its no fun.