Demented Hamsters
22-05-2006, 03:13
For some reason, there appears to be lots of news about amputees in the papers recently.
in case you've missed them, here's three that are amazing, inspiring and just weird:
Double Amputee conquers Everest
In November 1982, Mark Inglis, then a mountain rescue guide, lost his legs to frostbite in a climbing mishap.
A blizzard trapped him and countryman Phil Doole in an ice cave on Mt Cook for 14 days.
Both had their legs amputated below the knees.
On Monday 15, 2006 Inglis became the first double amputee to conquer Mt Everest.
Inglis conquered Everest on two carbon-fibre artificial legs especially adapted for climbing.
He snapped one of them when he was at about 6400m while preparing to move up to Camp 2, which is at about 7500m.
He was able to fix it well enough to get to his climbing companions, and then rebuilt it with spare parts.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said she hopes to speak to Mr Inglis personally for his "absolutely incredible feat". (personally, I don't know if that's the best word to use with this guy)
And Sir Edmund Hillary, who first conquered Everest, on May 29, 1953 with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, added his praise.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald it was "quite obviously a remarkable effort to actually climb Mt Everest with a couple of artificial legs".
He added: "And I have to admit that I admire his considerable effort ... he's done a pretty good job."
Mrs Inglis said she expected her husband home early next week. "It will be interesting to see what he wants to do now. He can't go any higher."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=000E6D12-879D-1468-BFEB83027AF1010F
Tasmanian miners considered amputating legs
A terrifying new picture emerged last night of the 14-day ordeal of Tasmanian miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb, in which they considered cutting each other's legs off with Stanley knives, feared rescuers would kill them, and wrote desperate notes to their families on arms and cigarette packets.
...the two miners also said official reports that their lives had been saved by a massive boulder lodged across the top of the steel cage in which they had been working were wrong.
Instead, their lives had been saved by a 1m square remnant of the cage that held sufficient debris at bay to allow a semi-conscious Mr Webb to dig Mr Russell free from rocks within a four-hour deadline of survival.
...In the early stages, when rock and debris crushed them in the cage, they were ready for anything.
"We were prepared to take our legs off if we had to, to have ourselves free," Mr Russell said.
...Mr Webb added: "We were going to get the material for tourneys [tourniquets] and everything else.
"We had to sort of plan things like that for peace of mind, if you can understand that.
"It's no good something happening and then a frantic, you know, panic.
"We had to control ourselves down there because if one of us lost it, how's the other guy going to survive?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10382921
Man tries to auction amputated leg
A Nelson man's plan to sell his amputated leg has been tripped by police and an internet auction website.
Shane Torrance, 42, whose tattooed right leg was amputated 15 months ago, wants to sell it to cover his debts and raise money for his daughter who has diabetes, The Nelson Mail reported today.
He was wanting to auction the limb, which he keeps in a freezer, on the auction website Trade Me with a reserve of $3000.
The leg was withdrawn from the website within hours of being listed yesterday.
A shocked Trade Me business manager Mike O'Donnell said sale of body parts was not allowed on the site, mainly because it was distasteful.
The leg was viewed by 20 people but no bids had been placed before it was withdrawn at 9am.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=000D201F-EB55-146B-8B9983027AF1010F
in case you've missed them, here's three that are amazing, inspiring and just weird:
Double Amputee conquers Everest
In November 1982, Mark Inglis, then a mountain rescue guide, lost his legs to frostbite in a climbing mishap.
A blizzard trapped him and countryman Phil Doole in an ice cave on Mt Cook for 14 days.
Both had their legs amputated below the knees.
On Monday 15, 2006 Inglis became the first double amputee to conquer Mt Everest.
Inglis conquered Everest on two carbon-fibre artificial legs especially adapted for climbing.
He snapped one of them when he was at about 6400m while preparing to move up to Camp 2, which is at about 7500m.
He was able to fix it well enough to get to his climbing companions, and then rebuilt it with spare parts.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said she hopes to speak to Mr Inglis personally for his "absolutely incredible feat". (personally, I don't know if that's the best word to use with this guy)
And Sir Edmund Hillary, who first conquered Everest, on May 29, 1953 with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, added his praise.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald it was "quite obviously a remarkable effort to actually climb Mt Everest with a couple of artificial legs".
He added: "And I have to admit that I admire his considerable effort ... he's done a pretty good job."
Mrs Inglis said she expected her husband home early next week. "It will be interesting to see what he wants to do now. He can't go any higher."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=000E6D12-879D-1468-BFEB83027AF1010F
Tasmanian miners considered amputating legs
A terrifying new picture emerged last night of the 14-day ordeal of Tasmanian miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb, in which they considered cutting each other's legs off with Stanley knives, feared rescuers would kill them, and wrote desperate notes to their families on arms and cigarette packets.
...the two miners also said official reports that their lives had been saved by a massive boulder lodged across the top of the steel cage in which they had been working were wrong.
Instead, their lives had been saved by a 1m square remnant of the cage that held sufficient debris at bay to allow a semi-conscious Mr Webb to dig Mr Russell free from rocks within a four-hour deadline of survival.
...In the early stages, when rock and debris crushed them in the cage, they were ready for anything.
"We were prepared to take our legs off if we had to, to have ourselves free," Mr Russell said.
...Mr Webb added: "We were going to get the material for tourneys [tourniquets] and everything else.
"We had to sort of plan things like that for peace of mind, if you can understand that.
"It's no good something happening and then a frantic, you know, panic.
"We had to control ourselves down there because if one of us lost it, how's the other guy going to survive?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10382921
Man tries to auction amputated leg
A Nelson man's plan to sell his amputated leg has been tripped by police and an internet auction website.
Shane Torrance, 42, whose tattooed right leg was amputated 15 months ago, wants to sell it to cover his debts and raise money for his daughter who has diabetes, The Nelson Mail reported today.
He was wanting to auction the limb, which he keeps in a freezer, on the auction website Trade Me with a reserve of $3000.
The leg was withdrawn from the website within hours of being listed yesterday.
A shocked Trade Me business manager Mike O'Donnell said sale of body parts was not allowed on the site, mainly because it was distasteful.
The leg was viewed by 20 people but no bids had been placed before it was withdrawn at 9am.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=000D201F-EB55-146B-8B9983027AF1010F