DYING MAN

Evening Star, Issue 23145, 20 December 1938, Page 11

DYING MAN

RESCUE EFFORTS FAIL SUFFERER FROM “ BENDS " la a vain attempt to save the life of a paralysed man suffering from “ tha bends,” a London policeman, Constable Small, remained with him ior seven hours, giving him oxygen in a compressed air at the Elephant and Castle tub© station. The man failed to recover, and he was transferred to Guy’s Hospital, where he died. Constable Small collapsed on leaving the chamber. “ The bends ” is a painful affliction to which men working under heavy pressure, such as divers and compressed air workers, are sometimes subject. Bubbles which form in the blood cause paralysis of the limbs, and tha only remedy is for the victim to bo placed in a compressed air chamber, the pressure increased and then gradually. decreased, so that the bubbles can be* dispersed The dead man was Alfred Marshall, aged 58, of Wandsworth, a foreman carpenter, employed on extensions of the tube at Elephant and Castle. After working for several hours in compressed air at the bottom of a 100 ft shaft he was found by a policeman lying semi-conscious on Tooting Common early in the morning. , He wa* unable to* speak, but pointed to a diso sewn to his waistcoat, which stated that he was a compressed, air worker at the Elephant and Castle, and should ba sent there immediately if taken ill. He was conveyed there by ambulance and put into the compressed air chamber. His condition was so serious, however, that the doctor asked for a volunteer to go in with him and administer oxygen. Constable Small immediately volunteered.