Colorado Man Survives Losing Both Legs in Freak Wood Chipper Accident During First Day on the Job: 'My Coworkers Kept Me Alive'

• The first day of John O’Neill's new job almost cost him his life
• His legs were caught in a wood chipper during a freak accident 15 minutes into his first shift
• As a result, he lost both of his legs and more than 15 pints of blood, meaning all the blood in his body was "essentially replaced"

One Colorado man lost both legs in a freak accident on his first day of work on Monday, Sept. 23, according to The Denver Post and Times Call.

John O’Neill, 33, said he “technically died” after he suffered an accident while working on a wood chipper in Longmont, Colo.

At 10:18 a.m., 15 minutes into his first day of work, O’Neill placed a fish-hook-shaped branch into the machine, per The Denver Post. The chipper blades flipped the branch’s hook around, which caught in O’Neill’s court-ordered ankle monitor and dragged him into the wood chipper. 

“I didn’t really feel the pain as much as I knew I was in trouble," O’Neill recalled to The Denver Post. "It went from a fight for my limb to a fight for my life, very fast.”

He told the outlet that “it took a minute before [his] coworkers realized what was happening" due to the ear protection they were wearing. By the time they realized what was happening and could pull him out, the blades hit his mid-thigh.

“I looked down and saw something that looked like what you see in movies,” O’Neill told The Denver Post, detailing how he saw his own skin, bone, arteries and muscle tissue. Additionally, he and his coworkers made a makeshift tourniquet with rope to reduce the amount of blood he lost.

“I was fading out, but my coworkers kept me alive,” O’Neill said. Authorities arrived at the scene and applied tourniquets to him before transporting him via Flight For Life helicopter to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colo.

The next day, on Sept. 24, he woke up in a hospital bed and was administered more blood after having already received 15 pints. He said medical professionals “essentially replaced all the blood in [his] body.”

“I was in an excruciating amount of pain,” O’Neill added. “I felt my legs were broken. It took me a minute to realize and remember what had just happened.” And then he looked down to his bed and saw his legs were gone. 

He then called his mother, Barbara O’Neill, who lives in New Jersey. Barbara was “sent into such a panic” when she learned of the accident that she had to be admitted to the hospital for three days, the outlet reported.

John intends to receive prosthetics. "This is uncharted territory and I can’t wait to dive into it because I feel like life is going to be more exciting. I’ve always enjoyed a challenge.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

John has not publicly identified the company he was working for. However, he criticized the ankle monitor’s design, noting that if he had not had it on, he would’ve been able to get free.

Additionally, a GoFundMe page has been created to help raise money for John’s unexpected  “medical bills, new legs, a wheelchair, medical expenses, lawyers, etc.” As of publication, it has raised $26,000 of its $30,000 goal.