OPERATION WITH CLASP KNIFE
RUGBY, September 27,
An operation to remove pieces of shrapnel pressing on his lungs, performed on a ship's boat with a sailor's clasp knife, saved the life of a British sailor.
The man's ship had been torpedoed and with 17 others he was adrift in an open boat in the Atlantic. His arm was shattered, one foot was injured, and he had a serious wound in the back. His comrades decided to operate. The second mate cauterised a clasp knife, and probing the wound located and removed the shrapnel. The men nursed their injured comrade in their arms to prevent heavy seas washing him overboard. The lifeboat was picked up after four days and a half.'
A surgeon said the operation with the clasp knife had undoubtedly saved the sailor's life.—B.O.W.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 78, 29 September 1941, Page 6
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135OPERATION WITH CLASP KNIFE Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 78, 29 September 1941, Page 6
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