Sunday, June 19, 2016

How this doctor evened the score for her patient

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As a locum tenens physician in rehabilitation hospitals, I see patients with some of the most unique injuries. From rare brain infections contracted in exotic lands, to the consequences of ill-advised horseplay with guns or ATVs, I’d begun to wonder if maybe I’d seen it all.

And then I met a grandma from New Jersey, who had a life-changing encounter on a nature trail out west. In her dutiful effort to corral her teenage grandchildren, and keep them following the guide’s directions, she shouted for them to remain on the path. In so doing, her yelling attracted the attention of an ill-tempered bison. The animal rapidly approached from behind without her notice. In the blink of an eye, the bison threw her up in the air with a flick of its horned head.

As she crashed to the ground, she rose up again instinctively (to dust herself off and prepare to run) as the animal came back for a second hit. One of its horns sliced a huge gash in her buttock as she fell head first on the ground, causing brain bleeding. The guide managed to scare off the beast as my patient’s granddaughter had the presence of mind to staunch her bleeding wound by having her sit on her thigh, as the guide called in an air flight to my hospital.

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