Artist Adapts After Accident, Reconnects with Plymouth First Responders

Art isn’t new for Peter Ross. In fact, the 61-year-old St. Paul resident has drawn and painted for much of his life.

“It’s therapeutic, it’s enjoyable, it’s fun, it’s something I love to do,” Ross said, as he a created a sketch of a loon.

But this year, he’s had to make one significant tweak to his artistic process.

“Well it’s my left hand, which, I didn’t even know I could draw with my left hand,” Ross said. “And I’m kind of amazed at how quickly it came along.”

Ross is right-handed, but he now uses his left hand because of an accident at his Plymouth office back on Jan. 17.

“We got a call for a worker with their hand stuck in a piece of machinery,” said Tom Evenson, the battalion chief of the Plymouth Fire Department. “We didn’t really know what kind of machine or anything like that until we arrived there.”

When first responders arrived, they found Ross with his right hand stuck in the rollers of a big printing machine he was trying to clean.

“It was stuck. Yeah. I think it was about 40 minutes, half hour somewhere in there,” said Ross.

Peter Ross (in plaid shirt) is helped by Plymouth first responders in January after getting his hand stuck in a machine. Photo courtesy: Plymouth Fire Dept.

A colleague called the manufacturer in the Netherlands to find out how to disassemble that section of the machine, and first responders took it from there.

“We just all did our jobs,” said Evenson. “The paramedics started pain control right away. The police officers were assisting with patient care, and the fire department actually started the removal of his hand.”

From there, it was off to North Memorial in Robbinsdale for eight and a half hours of surgery to fix the four broken bones in his hand, followed by skin grafts and months of physical therapy.

Saying ‘Thanks’

Nearly seven months later, Ross met with the first responders who freed his hand for the first time since the accident.

“Thought I’d reach out — I wanted to reach out,” Ross told the group of firefighters and police officers on a recent Friday at a Plymouth fire station.

It’s one of the rare occasions where someone has returned to say ‘thanks.’

“For somebody to come back and say thanks, and feel that that sense of accomplishment, if you will, and success, it feels really good,” said Evenson.

As for Ross, he hopes his right hand will return to full strength. But thanks to a little determination, his left hand is serving as a worthy substitute.

“It came along very well,” said Ross. “And it’s been fun, in a weird sort of way, to find a silver lining.”

If you’d like to check out some of Ross’s left-handed art, he’ll be at the Lakeville Art Festival the weekend of Sept. 21.

Peter Ross (in plaid shirt) meets with Plymouth first responders on Aug. 2.

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