WESTFIELD – A city man who was made uncomfortable by a sling he had been prescribed for his injured arm found a novel way to remove it.
He burned it off.
Westfield firefighters responded to alarms from the basement and first floor of a Broad Street house which is used for communal living and is administered by Mental Health Association Inc., a Springfield based program which provides services for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.
The firefighters found that the alarms had been triggered when an apparently intoxicated resident had attempted to burn a brace he had been provided when an arm injury had been treated a few days earlier.
The firefighters report that the man was uncooperative and requested police assistance.
Officer Sean Smith was dispatched to help the firefighters deal with man who is familiar to many of the department’s officers due to previous incidents, many of which involve alcohol.
Smith reports that the man said that the sling was uncomfortable and he decided the best way to remove it from his arm would be to burn it.
The sling was effectively removed by burning but Smith reports that the man suffered minor burns to the left side of his neck and singed his beard.
He agreed to be transported to Noble Hospital to be checked out.
A hospital spokesperson reports he was treated and released at the hospital.
An officer who followed up on the call said that a residential supervisor pointed out that the man was intoxicated and said, that, although the residents are not allowed to smoke inside the house, as adults they are of course allowed to possess lighters.
