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The call to the industrial accident happened at TB Woods located at 440 Fifth Avenue in Chambersburg at 10:52 a.m. on Monday, July 23, 2023, according to a release by the Franklin Fire Company.
According to his family, 20-year-old Colby Taylor was found trapped at the scene.
The fire company's Squad 41 "utilized the HyperTherm cutter, airbags, rams and cribbing" to free the man's legs.
"The complex incident required multiple torches working as well as rail car lifters, which were used by the company," fire officials said.
The difficult extraction took approximately an hour and a half with "multiple departments and agencies responded to assist," the officials explained.
Once the man was freed he was airlifted by a helicopter from Maryland and transported to a specialized trauma center, authorities said.
Maryland State Police and the Shock Trauma “Go-Team” from Baltimore, Maryland also helped at the scene.
The area was cleared at 1:41 p.m., authorities said.
TB Wood’s was founded in 1857 and creates "some of the industry’s most popular couplings, Wood’s has become the No.1 producer in each of its mechanical product categories," the company's website said.
Colby's father Randy has shared the following statement following the incident:
"Hello all. My son was the young man in the accident yesterday at TB Woods. He’s set to make a full recovery. But it’s gonna take some time and some more surgery and a lot of patience. Right now we are just taking things hour by hour. Once we know more and we have things set I will kindly give updates once his mom and me feel we are ready too. We can not tell you how much we appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers for Colby. Thank y’all so much."
He also posted some photos of his son encouraging him to keep going as part of the "best comeback story ever" saying, "We are gonna get you better, stronger and indestructible. No machine is gonna end nothing for you Colby."
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