DYING MAN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 12

DYING MAN

RESCUE EFFORTS FAIL SUFFERER FROM "BENDS" POLICEMAN'S PLUCKY FIGHT In a vain attempt to save the life of a paralysed man suffering from " the bends," a London policeman, Constable Small, remained with him for seven hours, giving him oxygen in a compressed air chamber at the Elephant and Castle Tube 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. PARALYSIS OF LIMBS Bubbles which form in the blood cause paralysis of the limbs, and the only remedy is for the victim to be 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-foot shaft he was found by a policeman lying semi-conscious on Tooting Common early in the morning. He was unable to speak, but pointed to a disc sewn to his waistcoat, which stated that he was a compressed air worker at the Elephant and Castle and should be 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.