WONDERFUL RECOVERY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 5 (Supplement)

WONDERFUL RECOVERY

ROWING MAN'S ACCIDENT So seriously injured two years ago that his lite was in grave danger, a Cambridge rowing Blue made such a remarkable recovery that he rowed No. 5 for Cambridge in this year's boat race He is Mr. D. G Kingsford. and the story of the accident is revealed by Dr Windsor Lewis, of Cambridge, in the British Medical Journal. Mr Kingsford is referred to anonymously as an undergraduate who was struck in the back while rowing in an eight-oared boat by a four-oared boat travelling in the opposite direction. " The force of the accident must have been considerable," Dr. Lewis states, " for, according to witnesses, he was lifted six feet into the air and then dropped into the river." When Mr Kingsford was later examined the only sign of injury was a clean-cut wound ljin. long. Three days later, however, an X-ray examination revealed that the last rib on the right side was dislocated; the bony protuberances of three of the lower vertebrae were fractured; and three lin, copper nails and a piece of metal binding (as used in boat-building) were lying alongside one of the vertebrae. An operation was performed, and recovery was so rapid that Mr Kingsford was able to walk 34 days later. " He resumed rowing in Januarv, 1934," Dr. Lewis adds, " to such good effect that lie was able to take part, in this year's boat race."