David Nott, MSF surgeon, recently returned from Congo (DRC), where he was helping victims of the war. Over a twenty-four hour period, David and his team treated 75 patients with gun shot wounds, all of whom survived.
J sits on his bed following the surgery that may have saved his life, but couldn't save his arm. DRC, November 2008.
Photo by Sarah Elliott
While working in Rutshuru hospital, David met a sixteen year old boy named J. J had been caught in crossfire with his brother when there was an explosion nearby. J's brother managed to run away, but J's arm was almost totally destroyed. "He was dying. He had about two or three days to live when I saw him," said David.
J. needed a forequarter amputation, a surgery involving removal of the collar bone and shoulder blade. David contacted friend and colleague Professor Meirion Thomas, who had performed the operation before. "I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it," he said.
David Nott in Rutshuru hospital, Congo (DRC).
Photo by David nott/MSF
"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."
A few weeks later J. walked out of the hospital, his condition as described by Romain, MSF field coordinator in Rutshuru "as good as could be expected".
David, 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.