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Talk about a case of the Monday’s.

At the beginning of his work week, 21-year-old James Valentine of Pennsylvania was involved in a gruesome accident that would make the strongest of us cringe.

While on the job with Adler Tree Service performing maintenance work on a pine tree, a chainsaw with razor-sharp teeth buried itself deep into his neck and shoulder, just a centimeter away from a vital artery.

But quick thinking from his colleagues and medical responders saved the young man.

Valentine’s co-workers were able to detach the blade from its motor, but they left the blade and chain where it was — in Valentine, about a quarter of an inch from the carotid artery that supplies blood to the head — and they held the blade in place until emergency responders arrived.

On the ambulance ride to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Valentine was awake and alert, according to hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Davis.

After Valentine was stabilized and anesthetized, doctors removed the blade. There was no major blood loss; the blade had missed that vital carotid artery by a mere centimeter.

And he has 30 stitches to show for it. He’s now in stable condition in the hospital and looking better every day, according to his sister Becca.

“He looks more like himself, he’s walking and talking today,” Valentine’s sister, Becca, told CNN on Tuesday. “We can’t believe it at all.”

Neither can we. At least he’s got a pretty gnarly story to tell.

SOURCE: CNN | PHOTO CREDIT: Screengrab