‘I really do not want to do this’: Doctor amputates trapped rafter’s leg in life-or-death mission
Dr Jorian Kippax has spoken of the desperate surgery in fast-flowing water in Tasmania’s wilderness.
A doctor has described the immense stress of amputating the leg of a man underwater in fast-flowing rapids to save his life.
Rescuers had tried everything to free the 65-year-old Lithuanian adventurer, Valdas Bieliauskas.
He had been travelling with 10 other rafters down the Franklin River last November. Walking across a series of rocks at the water’s edge, he had slipped and fallen.
Captured on a smartphone by a friend, it looked innocuous, but they soon realised Valdas’ leg had become trapped.
