Support Butch Olson's Road to Recovery

My name is Dianna Olson, and my family and I are asking for your help for my brother Butch Olson. He is the sole proprietor of Liffring Machine & Repair, and he has devoted 40 plus years to working in this machine shop.

On the morning of December 6, 2024, he endured a horrific accident while at work. He was doing a job that he has done over ten thousand times throughout the years. That day he was wearing a Carhartt jacket that somehow got caught in the lathe machine which pulled his arm in up to his shoulder. He was alone in the shop at the time and there was no one to help him. With all his strength he held his body back from going in any further for 20 plus minutes until the motor finally burned up and shut off. It was then that he was able to manually unwind the machine to get his arm out and call for help.

As a result of this accident, he has a broken back and four broken ribs. Miraculously the only break in his arm was a chip on his ulna bone. However, all the tissue throughout his arm was ground up like hamburger inside. Currently he has regained some feeling in his arm and can make a fist but has no use of the arm yet. The doctors believe that having feeling and little movement is a good sign there was no nerve damage. This leads them to believe there is a promising possibility that he will regain the use of his arm.

His back is in a brace and requires no surgery and they hope that it will heal on its own. The same scenario applies to the broken ribs. Butch is at home now and has begun physical therapy on his arm. However, it is unknown the length of time it will take to regain partial or full use again.

Prior to the accident Butch had cancelled his health insurance because they were raising the rates, and he was in the process of looking for something better. He is now facing a lot of unexpected present and future expenses due to the accident. He no longer has a source of income due to his inability to work and the temporary shutdown of his business. His hope is that he will return to work as soon as he can but right now it is impossible to know when that will happen or if that will ever be a possibility.

I will continue to give updates on any progress made by my brother and hope to provide good news as time passes. Any help provided would be greatly appreciated while he strives forward in his long journey to recover! We thank you all in advance!