VIC: Country doctor uses household drill to save boy's life
20 May 2009 1:33 AM
MELBOURNE, May 20 AAP - A 13-year-old boy owes his life to a country doctor who used a household drill to bore a hole into his skull following a bicycle accident.
Nicholas Rossi was not wearing a helmet when fell off his bike late on Friday (AEST) while riding outside a friend's house in Maryborough, 170km northwest of Melbourne.
He hit his head on the pavement and was knocked out momentarily, but then he stood up and said he was fine, The Australian newspaper reported.
But after he complained of a headache, his mother Karen, a trained nurse, took him to the district hospital, where he experienced spasms and periods of unconsciousness.
The local GP Rob Carson recognised the symptoms of bleeding on the brain and realised he had only minutes to drill a hole to relieve the pressure on the boy's brain.
He obtained a household drill from a maintenance room since the hospital was not equipped with neurological drills.
Over the telephone, Melbourne neurosurgeon David Wallace walked him through the procedure.
Dr Carson drilled a hole just below the bruise mark, above Nicholas's ear, until a blood clot fell out.
He used forceps to increase the hole to 1cm in diameter and then inserted a drainage tube to keep the blood flowing out of the boy's skull.
Nicholas was airlifted to Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital an hour later and was released on Tuesday - his 13th birthday.
