HEROIC SURGEON
LIVE SHELL REMOVED FROM
GUNNER'S CHEST
LONDON, October 29
From the Egyptian battlefront comes a story of heroism by a New Zealand surgeon who- risked his life to remove a live anti-tank shell from the chest of a young English gunner. The gunner was brought on Sunday to the New Zealand 15th Ambulance, and the operation was carried out by the most forward surgical group, working only a few miles from the El Alamein line. As he operated, the New Zealand surgeon, Major Donald McKenzie, of Auckland, knew that the shell might explode at any moment. The shell, about 8 inches long and 2 inches in diameter, had entered thel gunner's back near- the spine and nar-^ rowly missed the heart; To get it out,:; the surgeon had to cut through a rib^ Within 20 minutes of the gunner enter-.' ing the surgeon's tent the shell had been removed, and there is more than an even chance of the gunnei*'s recov- ( cry. Today he was well enough to" sit up in bed and talk about his experience.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 105, 30 October 1942, Page 5
Word Count
179HEROIC SURGEON Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 105, 30 October 1942, Page 5
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