Surgery by text saves boy’s life

Surgeon performs complex op thousands of miles away in strife-torn Congo

A FORMER Hulme Grammar pupil saved the life of an injured boy in the Congo . . . by following text message instructions from a doctor colleague thousands of miles away.

Vascular surgeon David Nott (52), who is working in the civil war-zone as a volunteer with a medical charity, had to act quickly to save the 16-year-old whose arm had been severed.

Mr Nott, who is based at Charing Cross Hospital in London, knew he had to perform a complicated amputation, requiring the removal of the boy’s collar bone and shoulder blade, but he was unfamiliar with the operation.

So he contacted Professor Meirion Thomas, from London’s Royal Marsden Hospital, who texted him full instructions.

Mr Nott said: “The boy would have died without the amputation, so I took a deep breath and followed the instructions to the letter.”

Mr Nott, who volunteers with Medecins San Frontiers for a month each year, is used to most procedures, but he said this was one of the most dangerous he had ever undertaken.

The operation, which is only performed several times a year in the UK, requires full intensive care back-up and patients tend to lose a lot of blood.

Mr Nott had just one pint of blood to hand and operated in rudimentary conditions.

It is not known how the boy sustained his injury, but it was suggested that he may have been bitten by a hippo while out fishing or that he may have been caught up in gunfire between the government and rebel forces.

Mr Nott said: “I knew that Meirion had done this operation before and just knew that he would be there to help me — and he was.

“I’ve been in some scrapes and this, I can tell you, was right up there.”

Mr Thomas, who received the mayday while on holiday in the Azores, said: “Once you get to the level he has reached, it’s just a matter of giving him a few tips.”

And thanks to Mr Nott’s deft touch, the teenager is now fully recovered, much to the surgeon’s delight.

He said: “I don’t think that someone who wasn’t a vascular surgeon would have been able to deal with the large blood vessels involved, so that’s why I volunteer myself so often. I love being able to save someone’s life.

“It was touch and go whether he would make it so when I saw his face on the charity’s website afterwards, it was a real delight.”

Hulme’s principal of schools Dr Paul Neeson said: “We were very proud to hear that a Hulme old boy, has successfully performed a lifesaving operation.

“We look forward to David being our guest of honour at speech night in January and to hearing more about his marvellous work not only in the Congo, but also here in the UK and with the British troops in Basra.”