A ski instructor in Wyoming added a new hole to his face when he tried to jump between two trees while skiing.
The accident happened when Natty Hagood was out on the mountain with his roommate, Pete, and a woman from out of town.
Hagood says it felt like a normal day.
“I was coming down Thunder and it was our first run of the day...I had made the first five turns and was coming back to lift line when I saw a gap between two trees. With my experience, you can bash between trees and it’s not that big of a deal."
After the tree collision, he was knocked off balance and fell into the snow.
When he got up and felt pressure on his face, he thought it was his chin strap....boy was he wrong.
“So, I shook left to right and saw the stick moving in my peripherals. I reached out and grabbed it and wiggled it before realizing it was pretty far in there.”
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The impalement happened so quickly that Hagood says he didn't experience any pain when the 18-inch long branch gouged his cheek.
Hagood says the stick was longer, but he broke it down to 6 inches before ski patrol came to his aid and had him sent to the hospital.
Doctors cut his lip, trimmed it all back and sent him off with 15 stitches in his face.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to pay for Hagood's hospital bills.