Abstract: At approximately 6:55 a.m., on Saturday, August 4, 2012, Employee #1 of Arborwell, Inc. sustained serious injuries after being pulled to the ground by a rigging line attached to a freefalling 10 foot tree top during a tree removal operation. Employee #1 had been called over by the foreman to help another employee hold a rope attached to a 55 foot tree. The rope was run through a pulley and tied to the tree at 45 feet high. The foreman cut off the top of tree just below where the rope was tied. The 10 foot tree top fell from a vertical position 55 feet to the ground, putting tension on the rope and pulling Employee #1 to the ground. There was no friction device used with the rope to slow the forces generated from the cut. They called 911 and Employee #1 was taken to Scripps Encinitas hospital and treated for a fractured left femur. He was hospitalized for three days.