Reattachment.

[Maggot]

I looked for HOTD's good news thread but I'm lame so here is my Black Friday good news.



This was the first successful reattachment of a human limb. In 1962, 12 year old Everett Knowles was trying to hop a freight train in Somerville, Massachusetts and was thrown against a stone wall ripping his right arm off cleanly at the shoulder. Knowles walked away from the tracks using his left hand to hold his right arm inside a bloody sleeve and was then rushed to the emergency-room. Chief surgical, Dr. Ronald Malt immediately assembled a team of experts he would need. After hours of surgery the doctors reconnected the blood vessels, pinned the arm bone together, and grafted skin and muscle together. After the boys hand turned pink and a pulse returned to the wrist doctors reattached four major nerve trunks. After four years of recovery, Knowles had the same use of his right arm and hand as a natural lefty. He eventually drove a six-wheel truck and lifted sides of beef at his job.

Interesting Fact: After the accident Everett became a celebrity of sorts. He was interviewed repeatedly and received letters and souvenirs from major league baseball players and astronauts, even a fan club was formed



A bunch more reattachment stories here

[ramseycat]

That's pretty cool.

[QueenBee]

Oh gosh, I was just a kid, but I remember that.

[blueberryhill]

And let us not forget the infamous Mr. Bobbit. Some of you are too young to remember this..

[HairOfTheDog]

And let us not forget the infamous Mr. Bobbit. Some of you are too young to remember this..

What's a Reattachment thread without the Bobbit.

[Maggot]

toe to thumb

After losing his thumb in a 2007 woodworking accident Garrett La Fever made the decision to have surgeons remove the big toe on his right foot and reattach it onto his right hand to use as a thumb. In a six-hour surgery at Saint Mary’s Pros Center in San Francisco, the director of microsurgery, and plastic surgeon worked in tandem to remove Garret’s toe and reattach it where his thumb once was. The operation involved disconnecting then reattaching blood vessels, nerves tendons and bone. Less than two months after the surgery Garrett could easily sign his name and button his clothes. His second toe on his right foot eventfully compensated and deviated toward that side which created a more symmetric foot.

Interesting Fact: Toe-to-thumb surgery is nothing new; the first successful operation was reported in 1969. The thumb is responsible for 40 percent of the function of the hand which is why doctors recommend this type of procedure after loosing a thumb.

[Maggot]

When I first saw the photo above I thought for sure it was photo shopped but unfortunately for Chang Po-yu it is not. In 2007 at the Shaoshan Zoo, Chang was removing tranquilizer darts before treating a Nile croc which had not been eating for a month. Chang, had failed to notice that the crock had not yet been fully anaesthetized and as he put his arm through bars of the crocodile’s cage the croc bit the Veterinarian forearm off. After Chang was rushed to the hospital a zoo employee launched a battle to retrieve his arm by shooting two bullets at the crocodile. Although the bullets failed to penetrate the crocodile’s hide, it was stunned enough to cause it to drop the arm. Chang’s arm was then rushed to the hospital where it was reattached after 5 hours of surgery.

Interesting Fact: The Nile croc is the largest African crocodile species. The croc can reach 16 feet (5 meters) in length and are estimated to kill 200 people a year.

[Maggot]

This is another groundbreaking, first time ever surgery. In 2004, 25 year old truck driver Israel Sarrio had his lower arm torn off in a traffic accident. Doctors in Valencia Spain reattached the arm but the stump became infected. To save the arm the surgeons re-amputated the arm and attached it to the patient’s groin. This kept the limb alive by feeding it blood through its veins and arteries while doctors worked to cure the infection. The arm remained on the groin for nine days before it was reattached to the stump which had recovered from the infection.

[BigMark]

very popular with the nurses for a week.

[Clang McFly]

very popular with the nurses for a week.

[Rootilda]

Fascinating but it makes me a little queasy.

[Maggot]

It does add a twist to hitchhiking.

[Duchess]

Woooo. That's wonderful & freaky all at once.

[Maggot]

Any good re-attachment stories?

[Duchess]

This thread makes me think about a guy I dated back home long ago. He had a party garage with a wood stove and seating and all of us teenagers would hangout there. One day he was building box speakers and cut his thumb off, my first reaction was to run right out the door. WTF! , anyway, long story short, they reattached his thumb and for several days we thought it was going to work but eventually it started turning black and had to be amputated. I haven't thought about this in a long time.

That garage was the first place I tripped on mescaline we bought from a couple Canadians. We all sat around for a good hour thinking we had been ripped off and then suddenly we knew we hadn't been. Gawd. I wouldn't even consider doing anything like that now. I'd be afraid of dying. Jeez Louise.

[Maggot]

I was tripping in San Diego once and watched the sun go from left to right in 5 min. I'm glad I wasn't looking directly at it. That's the last time I ever did acid.

Remembering things and the triggers that set the memory off is like watching a Gilligan island re-run.