This is great story of a person who came upon a terrible accident and with his quick thinking and using only the resources he could find, saved a persons' life.

A man with no medical training managed to save a young woman's life when both her legs were severed by a train and he managed to tie the protruding arteries of her legs into knots.

Complete news story here.

I am stunned, shocked and impressed. If anyone of you meets this guy then buy him a beer - I'll pay.


--- Sincerely hoping I never need to find out if I have the wits and guts to do something similar if needed... The gory details reminds me of the crash course in tourniquet I had just some weeks ago. Useful knowledge I never hope to put to use.

Wow! That is AMAZING.

Faith in humanity: restored

-Blast

I HOPE he gets some after action PTSD help - read the last paragraph or two - IF he was an EMT/Police/Fire, he would be getting some free counseling - I hope he gets the same

Y'know, I can't ever recall "knot tying" in my Boy Scout first aid course, my EMT course, medical school, ATLS, or combat lifesaver courses.

GOOD FOR HIM!

that would have never crossed my mind...

He did a very fine job. I hope he can get past the gore to realize the importance of what he did.

It certainly was a 'ell of a Stupidity Tax for the woman.

Sue

I had no idea blood vessels had that much "slack". I assume you'd have to pull them out at least a little bit to be able to tie a knot with your bare hands, yes? And that they'd be slippery with blood?

Major kudos for this guy. That's some serious stepping up.

'I had no idea blood vessels had that much "slack".'

I'm going to take a guess at this.

Train wheels are around 3" wide and flat, with a 'cutting edge' rim on the inside of the wheel. The rim keeps the wheels on the rails, the flat part carries the weight.

If a human body falls outside the train with legs underneath, that cutting edge is what literally cuts off the legs, but that wide flat part is, at the same time, crushing the flesh and bone above the cut. That's why you never hear of train amputations being reattached -- too much damage.

In this case, the crushing effect probably turned the lower part of what was left into hamburger/jelly, and the arteries may have pressed closed. Arteries and large veins are fairly heavy-walled, so he may have been able to grab the uppermost part, pinch it off to stop the flow of blood (if the crushing action hadn't done most of it), and tie the knot.

He might have had 3" of artery to work with, but it still took an awful lot of manual dexterity... and with shaking hands, probably.

He was good, she was lucky.

Sue

Agreed. I can only hope I would do as well in such a situation.


And thanks, I hadn't remembered about the flat on the wheel.