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| Surgeon saves boy's life by text | Surgeon saves boy's life by text |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A British doctor volunteering in DR Congo used text message instructions from a colleague to perform a life-saving amputation on a boy. | A British doctor volunteering in DR Congo used text message instructions from a colleague to perform a life-saving amputation on a boy. |
| Vascular surgeon David Nott helped the 16-year-old while working 24-hour shifts with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Rutshuru. | Vascular surgeon David Nott helped the 16-year-old while working 24-hour shifts with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Rutshuru. |
| The boy's left arm had been ripped off and was badly infected and gangrenous. | The boy's left arm had been ripped off and was badly infected and gangrenous. |
| Mr Nott, 52, from London, had never performed the operation but followed instructions from a colleague who had. | |
| The surgeon, who is based at Charing Cross Hospital in west London, said: "He was dying. He had about two or three days to live when I saw him." | The surgeon, who is based at Charing Cross Hospital in west London, said: "He was dying. He had about two or three days to live when I saw him." |
| Careful instructions | Careful instructions |
| Mr Nott said he had been told the boy had been bitten by a hippopotamus while fishing, although he later discovered he had been caught in crossfire between government and rebel forces. | |
| There were just 6in (15cm) of the boy's arm remaining, much of the surrounding muscle had died and there was little skin to fold over the wound. | |
| Mr Nott knew he needed to perform a forequarter amputation, requiring removal of the collar bone and shoulder blade. | |
| He contacted Professor Meirion Thomas, from London's Royal Marsden Hospital, who had performed the operation before. | |
| "I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it," he said. | "I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it," he said. |
| It was just luck that I was there and could do it David Nott | It was just luck that I was there and could do it David Nott |
| "Even then I had to think long and hard about whether it was right to leave a young boy with only one arm in the middle of this fighting. | "Even then I had to think long and hard about whether it was right to leave a young boy with only one arm in the middle of this fighting. |
| "But in the end he would have died without it so I took a deep breath and followed the instructions to the letter. | "But in the end he would have died without it so I took a deep breath and followed the instructions to the letter. |
| "I knew exactly what my colleague meant because we have operated together many times." | "I knew exactly what my colleague meant because we have operated together many times." |
| The operation is only performed about 10 times a year in the UK, usually on cancer patients, and requires the back-up of an intensive-care unit. Patients usually lose a lot of blood during the procedure. | |
| Mr Nott, from Fulham, west London, had just one pint of blood and an elementary operating theatre, but the operation, performed in October, was a success and the teenager made a full recovery. | |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme | FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme |
| The surgeon, who volunteers with MSF for a month every year, said: "I don't think there's more than two or three surgeons in the UK who can do this. It was just luck that I was there and could do it. | |
| "I don't think that someone that wasn't a vascular surgeon would have been able to deal with the large blood vessels involved. That is why I volunteer myself so often, I love being able to save someone's life." | "I don't think that someone that wasn't a vascular surgeon would have been able to deal with the large blood vessels involved. That is why I volunteer myself so often, I love being able to save someone's life." |
| In the absence of intensive-care facilities, Mr Nott said he had personally monitored the boy's recovery from his bedside, tending his wounds. | |
| "It was touch and go whether he would make it so when I saw his face on the MSF website afterwards, it was a real delight," he added. |