Leeches Help To Reattach Shark Victim's Severed Hand

Surgeons who used leeches to reattach the severed hand of an Australian surfer mauled by a great white shark on Sydney's Bondi Beach Tuesday hailed the operation as a minor miracle.

Surgeons who used leeches to reattach the severed hand of an Australian surfer mauled by a great white shark on Sydney's Bondi Beach Tuesday hailed the operation as a "minor miracle."

Glenn Orgias, 33, almost lost his hand after being savaged by a 2.5 metre (8.2 foot) great white in the surf off Bondi on February 12 -- the second shark attack in Sydney in as many days.

Severe Bleeding - First Aid and Emergency Treatment Guide
A quick and simple First Aid guide on how to administer treatment for Severe Bleeding.

Orgias was rushed to hospital with his hand hanging by a three-centimetre (1.2 inch) piece of skin, and plastic surgeon Kevin Ho said he had held little hope it could be reattached.

"However... given his general health and the speed of which he was rushed into the operating theatre, and also the extent of his injuries, made it a possibility that we could reattach the hand," he told reporters.

Using leeches, Ho said, doctors were able to restore blood flow to the injured hand, and he was hopeful Orgias would regain some of its use.

Shark Survivors Asked to Pay for Rescue
Two tourists who were rescued from shark infested waters off Australia were asked to pay for their resuce after the couple sold their survival story to the media for about a million dollars.

"I thought the hopes for the hand were close to zero, but I have hope in time that Glenn will have a working hand," he said.

"We're far from out of the woods but I think for him to make it to this stage is a minor miracle and a reflection of how healthy and physically well he is."

Now, Missing Fingers can Be Replaced With Toes
Amputated fingers are now being successfully transplanted with toes in India, thanks to a technique called microsurgical toe transfer.

Orgias thanked a French surfer who came to his rescue by applying a tourniquet, saying he believed it had saved his life.

It was believed to the first attack in the city's waters by a great white, a species made famous by Steven Spielberg's horror film "Jaws."

A Spanish Woman Gets A Double Hand Transplant
A 47-year-old woman who lost her hands in a chemical explosion some 19 years ago had double hand transplant done on 30 November

Authorities said 21 great whites had been caught in nets off Sydney, but with just two caught off Bondi in the past three years, to find one in the city's waters was rare.

The attack on Orgias followed a bull shark strike on a navy diver in Sydney Harbour, just off Garden Island military base.

Able Seaman Paul de Gelder lost a hand and a leg after being bitten by a three-metre shark on February 11.

While shark attacks are not uncommon off Australia's vast coastline, experts said no one had been bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour for more than a decade, and that the last fatal attack was in 1963.

Over the past two centuries Australia has recorded 194 deaths through shark attacks, and researchers point out endlessly that more people die from bee stings and lightning strikes.

Source-AFP
SRM