Man impaled in Golden Valley `doing fine`; took posts out himself while on a stretcher

June 04--An intoxicated man who was impaled on a fence after falling from a hot tub on a deck in Golden Valley is "doing fine" even though he defied emergency responders' orders and removed pieces of the fence from his leg himself while on a stretcher.

The 30-year-old man fell shortly before midnight Saturday and landed on an ornate fence that surrounds an in-ground pool behind what neighbors described as a "party house" in the 800 block of Sumter Avenue.

Firefighters cut the posts to free the man from the fence and left portions in his upper leg, near his groin, to allow for safer removal at the hospital.

However, a Fire Department report released Tuesday read, "The patient reached down and removed the fence posts himself after being instructed to leave them in place."

The man, whose identity has not been released, was treated at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.

"The individual is doing fine" and was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon, said homeowner Mike Opsahl, who declined to say anything further about the incident.

Police Sgt. Dave Born said the man was fortunate that he wasn't impaled "right through his abdomen or right through his chest." The man was conscious the whole time, but in pain, Born said.

Copyright 2015 - Star Tribune (Minneapolis)