Craftsman returns minus arm, but alive

by Robb Fulcher

Lee Risler returns to Fiesta Hermosa after a previous trip to the city ended in a three-day struggle for survival. Photo by Robb Fulcher

Sandal maker Lee Risler was the picture of good cheer as he stood inside his vendor's booth at a crowded Fiesta Hermosa on Sunday, wearing a bright print shirt and an even brighter smile. The only sign of his recent life-and-death struggle was the shirt's left sleeve, which hung empty at his side.

The 54-year-old Risler, a man who seems constitutionally incapable of any facial expression other than a smile, was making a remarkable return to Hermosa Beach. The last time he tried to make it out here from his Lucerne Valley home, he lost his arm and nearly his life.

It was St. Patrick's Day weekend, and Risler, married and a father of four, was on his way to sell his leather footwear at the city's big Irish parade and festival. He was driving his van along the 605 Freeway about 3 a.m. Saturday when a red car sideswiped him, sending the van over an embankment, where it rolled to a stop in some trees. Risler was thrown out, but the van landed on top of his hand, pinning him underneath.

Risler yelled for help, but he could not be heard. For two days he lay pinned, unable to reach his cell phone and bottled water that sat just feet away inside the van. At the end of two days under the van, he reached his right hand into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife, determining to cut through the flesh of his left hand to get free.

"After 40 hours I started cutting," Risler said. "I waited until I was really dehydrated, and I was looking at the last of my strength."

Cutting through flesh that seemed already dead, Risler freed his hand, only to discover that his elbow was pinned as well.

"I tried cutting there but that was live skin, it was really painful," he said. "I poked around for the joint, but I couldn't find it, and then I passed out."

That was Sunday night. He awoke Monday morning, and found that his knife had slipped out of his hand and was lost in the trees. For the first time he feared that he would not make it back up the embankment alive.

"I was really dehydrated. I was hallucinating," he said.

Then, with hope of rescue fading, a Caltrans worker happened upon the wreckage. Risler was rushed to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where his left arm received a proper amputation. After an 18-day hospital stay, Risler returned to his craft, learning how to make sandals with one hand.

"It's slower," he said. "I can't hold something and glue it. There are some things I can't do, so I'm working with weights and clamps to make up for my left hand. I'm getting a prosthetic arm soon, so I'll be back to my old self."

Risler said he feels good but his stamina has not yet fully returned.

"I hit the wall now," he said. "Which is weird, because I used to go from early in the morning all day long, flat out. I can't do that now."

But the Torrance-born Risler continues to make sandals and sell them at fairs up and down the coast, and he wants to return to another love, surfing.

"That's my next achievement," he said.

As Risler stood behind his Fiesta booth at Pier and Hermosa avenues, a woman paused to take him in.

"You're famous," she said.

"I've been in the news, but mostly by accident," he replied.

A young man looking over Risler's sandals commented on how expertly they had been trimmed and fashioned.

"I'm good at cutting things," Risler quipped.

Asked about his attitude he said, "I'm a smiler. People tell me that. I guess I'm smiling because I'm just so happy to be alive."

For information on Risler's handcrafted leather sandals, punch up www.kiwisandals.com. ER