Retired surgeon called on in Nepal

23 November 2012 09:13

A retired surgeon has to put his expertise to good use while on a trek in the Himalayas when a fellow volunteer fell ill

A retired surgeon has to put his expertise to good use while on a trek in the Himalayas when a fellow volunteer fell ill

A 71-year-old retired surgeon had to put his skills to good use when a fellow volunteer on a Nepal Trust trek fell ill in the Himalayan mountains. The group of volunteers from Ilkley were taking part in the Trek With A Purpose challenge, aimed at raising funds to build facilities for people living in the more remote areas of North West Nepal.

But when one of the team members fell ill with e.coli, something that may lead to a call being made to the medical travel insurance provider, Andrew Broughton had to use his expertise to supervise a helicopter evacuation. Mr Broughton also helped locals in the Humla region while on the trip, acting as an advisory medical officer at health clinics and carrying out duties as a team doctor. Owen Higgs, a dentist who was also on the 12-mile trek up the mountain, had to use his expertise as well when he was called into action to operate on 39 local patients.

Gary Williams, a member of Ilkley Wharfedale Rotary Club, said the efforts of the volunteers - some of who would have been covered by senior travel insurance - were impressive. He said: "One of the guys was seriously dehydrated - he was very poorly. Andrew was monitoring him, and he decided it was time for an emergency evacuation."

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