MARVEL OF SURGERY

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 May 1927, Page 2

MARVEL OF SURGERY

LENINGRAD TO JO’BURG. An amazing example of successful long-distance surgery has aroused wonderment in South Africa. Working to cabled instructions received from Leningrad, a Johannesburg surgeon successfully operated for the cure of gangrene. During the war, a Rand man received a bayonet wound, but allowed it to go undressed, and some years later, when a civilian, he developed pain in the leg, which was diagnosed as due to gangrene. For nine years he suffered agony, being unable to walk, as he refused to have the limb amputated, which doctors declared was the only cure. With the aid of a motor, he carried on business, his energy spurred by the knowledge that he had heavy medical fees to pay through consulting' nine doctors. Finally, one of his advisers informed him that gangrene had been cured twice in history without amputation —once by a French doctor, and another time by a Russian. As local surgeons were unaware of the method involved the patient as a last resort, cabled to a Russian doctor pi Leningrad for details. The messages that passed cost £24, but the information received enabled a Johannesburg surgeon to perform the necessary operation, consisting of the removal of a certain body gland. The patient is now completely fit, and has the use of all his limbs. In addition, his business, which was built up primarily to provide funds to pay medical fees', is prospering, and he is now' a wealthy man.