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DIMOCK — Three months, two surgeries and one serious chainsaw accident later, J.D. Heinrich got medical clearance to go back to work this week.

Heinrich, who lives in Dimock with his wife and their four children, owns Hawkeye Tree and Stump Services, LLC. He said despite some setbacks, the way his accident happened actually turned out to be the best case scenario for the situation, as he narrowly avoided the injury being significantly worse multiple times.

On the afternoon of Oct. 18, Heinrich and his employee, Nick Milstead, were removing stumps from a job site in Burke. Heinrich said he had cut about three-quarters of the way through the final stump when the chainsaw he was using kicked back, sending it into his leg.

“I was on my knees by the stump, and I remember the first thing I said was, ‘God, please don’t let it be my artery, the femoral artery,'” Heinrich told The Daily Republic at his home on Thursday. “And then I started getting nervous that I wasn’t going to get to see my wife and kids again, because you don’t have a lot of time.”

Heinrich determined from the amount of blood he saw that he hadn’t hit the artery, but his next worry was that he cut through the bone of his leg. He got on his feet and began walking.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, it can’t be that bad if I can walk on it,'” Heinrich said. “Then I took about two, three steps, and I looked down, and you could see the muscle actually hanging out of my pants and everything. And then I knew it was a lot worse than what I thought it was.”

Heinrich said he knew he had to stay calm and that if he sat or lay down, he could pass out. Milstead drove Heinrich to the hospital in Burke. He was eventually transported to Sioux Falls by ambulance, as the wind was too strong to fly. Heinrich’s wife, Jess Heinrich, initially didn’t believe what happened when Milstead called her.

“I first thought he was kind of joking, just like, ‘J.D. cut his leg with a chainsaw,’ and I’m like, ‘Ha ha, very funny, good joke,'” she said.

Once she realized he wasn’t joking, she found places for their children to stay, packed some bags and headed to Sioux Falls.

The chainsaw had just barely missed the bone of Heinrich’s leg. The day after, he underwent a few hours of surgery in Sioux Falls. Then he was cleared to return home.

But Heinrich’s recovery didn’t go entirely smoothly after that point.

“It’s been a long roller coaster ride,” Jess Heinrich said.

About a week later, Heinrich noticed that his leg seemed to be draining excessively. He returned to the hospital where fluid was removed from his knee, and he was again sent home. A week after that, he thought the drainage still seemed excessive, but was again told that there was nothing to worry about.

On Nov. 7, the Heinrichs family was excited. Prior to that date, J.D. Heinrich had been confined to the house, and the family thought that was the day doctors were going to say he could start moving more.

But Heinrich had noticed a lot of leaking earlier that morning, and by the time he arrived in Sioux Falls, his bandages were soaked through.

Heinrich then went through what he said caused a big mental setback in the recovery process.

“I had to go back into surgery again. My leg was full of infection, so they had to reopen it up, and the inside muscle they actually had to completely remove because it had been overtaken by infection,” Heinrich said.

Heinrich was reminded again how lucky it was that he hadn’t cut into his bone, and he learned that he had been only a day or two away from his leg becoming septic and his incision bursting.

“If the infection would’ve gotten the bone, I’d probably be posing for Captain Morgan commercials,” he said.

Heinrich was able to limp without crutches about two weeks after his first surgery, and after two months, he was up and about as normal. With J.D. unable to work at the business he owns and Jess as a stay-at-home mom to their children – Rylee, 6; Teagan, 5; Jory, 2; and McCoy, 1 – people close to the family stepped in to help.

“Our customers, our friends, our family, our community, our church – everybody has just been so great to us,” Heinrich said.

Now on his feet again and back at work, Heinrich said he’s been humbled by the community support the family has gotten, from cards to money for a Thanksgiving meal.

“We kind of always try to be people that stand on our own two feet, of course. Usually, we try to help out when we can when somebody needs it,” Heinrich said. “It’s kind of hard being in this spot.”

Heinrich’s friends aren’t done helping out, either. A benefit event to assist the Heinrichs with medical bills and living expenses will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Parkston Legion. The event will include a pork sandwich meal for a free-will donation and a silent auction.