A few years ago I was working for a golf course... I wasn't a landscaper, but they had trimmed the king palms around the parking lot a few days earlier and I was asked to dispose of the trimmings. I asked for gloves and they didn't have any available, to which I almost responded with, "Come back and get me when you find some." I didn't want to be an ass, though, so I went ahead and started picking them up anyway. These palm leaves were about ten feet in length, though they had been trimmed several days earlier, and this was during the summer in Florida, so they had gotten brown, dry, stiff, and brittle.
About halfway through being finished, I picked up a palm frond by the distal end to lift it into the bed of the cart I was using to move them to the burn pile. Unbeknownst to me, the frond was broken about mid way down its length, but didnt fold over on itself until I had the fat end way up in the air. Suddenly, the fat end swings down (being connected by only a few fibrous strands) and smacks the heel of my hand. It hurt a bit, so I looked down and saw what appeared to be a single spot of blood on the heel of my hand just before the large thumb joint (dont know the medical term, but the knuckle that connects the thumb to the hand) - basically right near the thickest, meatiest part of the hand. I looked at the frond, and noticed (for the first time, amazingly) that they all had these thorns that are about 4"-5" in length near the base of them. The thorns are, of course, very sharp and at this point very stiff and brittle. I wipe the blood away, thinking a thorn had punctured my hand slightly and then bounced back out. I kept working. About thirty seconds later I noticed that my hand was starting to throb. I inspected the puncture again, and didn't notice anything other than a slight discoloration - at the time, I thought it was just starting to bruise where it entered my skin. I attempt to pick up another frond with my right hand, and discover to my surprise that I cannot move my right thumb. Uh-oh. Something's up here. Hand's really throbbing now. I inspect my hand closer this time, catching on to the fact that the thorn may have penetrated deeper than I originally anticipated. I still don't know why I did it, but after another minute or so of wondering what to do next, I turned my hand over to look at the back of it. My attention is immediately drawn to a foreign object attempting to exit through my skin about mid-way between my thumb and index finger.
The thorn had gone almost fully through my hand. At the moment it struck, my thumb had been flexed. This saved one of my tendons. The thorn snuck its way behind the flexed tendon and pinned it in that position, which was why I couldn't move my thumb.
I ended up going to the ER, where the nurse cut an opening in the back of my hand to expose the point of the thorn, and decided to try to pull it through. I'm no doctor or surgeon, but where on earth is the logic in trying to pull an object with a tapered shape through someone's hand by the small pointy end????? Helloooo???? Idiot nurse.
FIVE DAYS LATER I had outpatient surgery to remove the thorn. The golf course paid for every bit of it, as well as paying me for time missed.
Lesson? ALWAYS wear thick work gloves when doing this sort of thing!!!!
The silver lining is that a month or so later, when the incision was finally fully healed, I was cleared to play a round of golf... I shot an amazing 2 over par (72 par course), which is to this day my best round ever!
Also, if you ever want to see one of nature's beefiest defense mechanisms, take a look at the thorns on the bases of the fronds of a king palm (I think they were kings). When they're green, they're about 7 inches long and springy. They shrink up when they're dead and dry. Pull one off, then let it sit for a couple of days til it gets brown and stiff... SCARY sharp point. Would be great for an emergency sewing needle in the bush!
