An Australian doctor described on Friday how a pocket knife and a hacksaw were used to amputate the legs of a man trapped under rubble after New Zealand’s deadly earthquake.
Stuart Philip was among a number of Australian doctors in Christchurch for a medical conference when the 6,3-magnitude quake flattened the South Island city on Tuesday, killing at least 113 people.
He told Australian broadcaster ABC that he feared for his life as he and other medics decided that the only way to save the injured man, whose legs were crushed under a heavy beam, was to perform the amputation.
Although pain-killing anaesthetic was available, the tools used to carry out the operation amid the shaking remains of the Pyne Gould building were basic.
“The majority of it was done with a blade from a Leatherman knife and builder’s hacksaw,” Philip told ABC Radio of the operation, which was performed mostly by an unnamed female doctor.
“It’s not something that’s even easy for us as surgeons. Nothing prepares you for that.”
‘Harrowing’
The Australian surgeon who did the bulk of the surgery, assisted by a New Zealand anaesthetist, a police medic and a policeman, was selected because she was the smallest and the best able to squeeze into the confined space.
The president of the Urological Society of Australia, Dr David Malouf, said the doctor involved did not wish to speak to the media.
“I’ve spoken with the individual, she’s doing OK,” he said. “It was very harrowing and part of her dealing with what was a terrible situation is really just having some time to deal with it on a personal basis.”
Philip said that he and the other doctors who performed the surgery were rocked by aftershocks as they helped the man.
“I’ve never been so frightened in my life, but we just kept going,” he said, adding that the man was now out of intensive care and recovering well.
“Are we heroes? I don’t think so. We’re surgeons. We’re not trauma surgeons, but you can’t leave people there,” he said. — AFP