Searching through newspaper archives from the 1800 and 1900s, you will find thousands of stories of how people were seriously injured under circumstances that would be nearly impossible to replicate today.

The subject of this news article from 1922 is my paternal great grandfather, James Judson ‘Jud’ Manley (1872-1948) in Tecumseh, Michigan. In an era where daily machinery often posed high physical risk, Jud suffered what must have been an incredibly painful compound fracture while attempting to crank start an automotive. At the time of the accident Jud was 50 years old.

According to Google:

Hand cranking a 1920’s automobile could produce a kickback, a sudden, violent backward rotation of the crank handle. This happened when the engine’s fuel-air mixture ignited too early in the compression stroke, forcing the crankshaft to spin in reverse and violently whipping the heavy metal handle into the operator’s arm, wrist, or face.