A British surgeon volunteering in the Democratic Republic of Congo used text message instructions to perform a life-saving arm amputation, he said on Wednesday.
David Nott knew that the 16-year-old boy needed a forequarter amputation removing his left shoulder blade after his arm was bitten off by a hippopotamus while fishing.
But the general and vascular surgeon had never carried out such an operation before and knew it was a huge risk.
So he text messaged a London colleague who texted him back telling him how to do it.
In a stunning exclusive, this blog has obtained a transcript of the text messages exchanged between the two doctors:
Text message sent by Volunteer Surgeon David Nott ("DT"):
omfg, need amputation instructions stat!!
Text message sent in reply by Professor Meirion Thomas ("MT"):
roflcopter, y u want dat??
DT: hungry hungry hippo 8 some kids arm
MT: u r have to be shitting me!!!
DT: 4 real! its bleedin all over n shit. wat shud i do??
MT: chill out, heres wat u do. 1st, chop the damn thing off lololol!!!
DT: omgwtfbbq, cant find my hacksaw
MT: OMG, Shut up!
DT: Chillaxe! im choppin now
MT: next, ligate the brachial artery to prevent further hemorrhaging before transecting the arm muscles.
DT: wat?
MT: den wrap dat shit up tighter than ur mums ****
DT: Dude, get out!
MT: u done yet im bored.
DT: im done kids fine. im goin 2 pub 2 get wasted
MT: u da man! lollerskates! buy dat kid a drink 2 lol
Medicine at it's finest.
No comments:
Post a Comment