Irwin Industrial Tools revealed this week that Dr. Bryan Fox of Chesapeake, Va., was selected as the winner of the “Tell Us Your Irwin Vise-Grip Story” promotion. It turns out that Dr. Fox, an orthopedic surgeon for the United States Navy, was honored for using an Irwin Vise-Grip to perform a rather unusual procedure: spinal surgery during Operation Iraqi Freedom. No joke, this guy actually saved someone’s life with a pair of vise grips.
A member of the U.S. Navy for more than 25 years, Dr. Fox found a, shall we say, “unique” use for his vise-grip as a spine surgeon on the battlefield in the Middle East. According to the report, in the heat of battle, Dr. Fox needed to perform emergency spinal surgery on a soldier who had a combination of screws and rods that had been implanted into his infected spine. Complicating the medical challenges at hand, Dr. Fox did not have access to the specialized tools necessary to deal with the soldier’s different spine implants. Dr. Fox did, however, have access to a pair of vise-grip locking pliers. He sterilized the tool and used it to remove the rods and screws from the soldier’s infected spine, effectively saving his life.
As the winner of the “Tell Us Your Vise-Grip Story” promotion, Dr. Fox was awarded an Irwin Vise-Grip custom-branded chopper valued at $25,000 built by East Coast Custom Cycles.
“As a lifelong fan of IRWIN VISE-GRIP tools, I’m thrilled to be selected as the winner of the ‘Tell Us Your VISE-GRIP Story’ contest,” said Dr. Fox. “IRWIN VISE-GRIP tools allowed me to save lives on the battlefield, and I firmly believe that VISE-GRIP tools are the most reliable and durable tools available. If you can’t fix it with VISE-GRIP tools, duct tape and a bigger hammer – it can’t be fixed.”
For years, Irwin had received hundreds of unsolicited stories from professional tradesmen, contractors and do-it-yourselfers about the unique ways they’ve used a vise-grip product outside of its traditional use to solve various problems either in a pinch or as a permanent solution. From July-October 2008, consumers were asked to share the different and exceptional ways they have used vise-grip locking pliers or wrenches to solve various problems in the workplace or at home.
Irwin received more than 850 stories describing how consumers used the tools in different situations ranging from spine surgery to car repair during the “Tell Us Your Vise-Grip Story” promotion. Fifty submissions were selected as finalists and consumers voted to select the best three entries. The winner was selected from the top three finalists by a panel of judges made up of industry experts in education, training, retail, motorsports and manufacturing.
The other finalists for the “Tell Us Your Vise-Grip Story” promotion were Paul Schraps of San Rafael, Calif., and Paul Smith of Valley Center, Calif., who won second and third place, respectively. Schraps shared how he held his truck’s exhaust system together while driving his mother to receive cancer treatments in Mexico. Those same vise-grip locking pliers are apparently still holding Schraps’ exhaust system together 28 years later. Smith lost a brake line during the grueling Baja 500, and he used his locking pliers to maintain power on his remaining brakes to finish the difficult race.
Schraps was awarded a $1,000 Cabela’s gift card for his second place entry and Smith received a $500 Cabela’s gift card for his third place entry. All three finalists received an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas where the grand prize was awarded.
For more information, visit http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/visegripstory/story1.jhtml.
