Hand cut off by big knife, doctors attach again

Hand kept on ice for 8 hours after machete cut it off in fight. Hand then attached to arm again by surgeons.

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Local News

Surgeons reattach severed hand 

13/11/2012 
Sunthorn Pongpao

A team of surgeons at Chulalongkorn hospital has successfully reattached a man's severed hand after it was kept on ice for more than eight hours, and the prognosis is good.

On Sept 30, Panya Sukhasilp, a 35-year-old grocery shop owner, was attacked by six men after he pressed them to repay 300 baht they owed him.

One of them swung a machete as he was trying to pick up a wooden stick to fight back, then he suddenly realised that his left hand had been cut off, he told police.

His neighbour helped him put the severed hand on ice and took him to a local hospital. Mr Panya was later sent to Chulalongkorn hospital in Bangkok where his hand was finally reattached. The detached hand had been kept on ice for more than eight hours.

Now he goes to Bang Pahan hospital in Ayutthaya's Bang Pahan district everyday to have his stitches cleaned and looked at.

Mr Panya thanked everyone involved in helping reattaching his hand. He said that he could now move his hand a little bit and the nerve tissues have started to heal.

Meanwhile, three of the six attackers including the machete-wielding man have been apprehended by the police.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Surgeons reattach severed hand, 13/11/2012, Sunthorn Pongpao, link) 


Fight Injury Vocabulary

severed - cut off ถูกตัด
severed hand - hand cut off

kept the severed hand on ice  

surgeon - a doctor with special knowledge of cutting open the body and repairing organs inside ศัลยแพทย์

a team of surgeons at Chulalongkorn hospital

surgery - the medical specialty of repairing inside a person's body after cutting them open (See Wikipedia)
microsurgery - surgery done with a microscope (See Wikipedia)

replantation - a type of microsurgery with the "reattachment of a completely detached body part. Fingers and thumbs are the most common but the ear, scalp, nose, face, arm and penis have all been replanted. Generally replantation involves restoring blood flow through arteries and veins, restoring the bony skeleton and connecting tendons and nerves as required" (See Wikipedia)

attach - to put or connect two things together ติดกัน
reattach - to attach again for a second time ติดใหม่

reattach severed hand 
successfully reattached a man's severed hand

surgeons reattach severed hand 
successfully reattached a man's severed hand after it was kept on ice for more than eight hours

prognosis - what people believe will happen in the future; forecast, prediction การทำนายอาการโรค
the prognosis is good

pressed - tried in a determined way to achieve something กดดัน
he pressed them to repay 300 baht they owed him

a grocery shop owner, was attacked by six men after he pressed them to repay 300 baht they owed him.

attack - trying to cause harm to people or damage to a place โจมตี
attacker - a person or group that attacks a person or place ผู้โจมตี

machete - a large knife with a long wide blade, used as a weapon or tool มีดดาบ (See Wikipedia)

swing - move in air from side to side แกว่ง, ไกว
swung a machete - ไกวดาบ

wield - to have and hold a weapon in your hands
weapon - something that can be used to cause injury, used to attack or defend อาวุธ

wield a weapon 
machete-wielding man

pick up - take something with your hands and hold it หยิบ
bend down and pick up an axe - ก้มลงหยิบขวาน

fight back - defend yourself; fight someone when they attack you
pick up a wooden stick to fight back

sudden (adjective) - V] ทันทีทันใด,  กะทันหัน,
suddenly (adverb) - อย่างกะทันหัน โดยทันทีทันใด

realise - to discover, come to know or understand something เข้าใจ, ตระหนัก, รู้, สำนึก

suddenly realised - to discover something very suddenly
he suddenly realised that his left hand had been cut off

local - in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
local hospital
His neighbour took him to a local hospital

detached  - not connected, not joined or connected together ซึ่งแยกออก, ซึ่งถอดออก
detached hand
The detached hand had been kept on ice for more than eight hours

stitches - the thread that doctors use to join skin together (and close wound) after the skin is cut open
he goes to the hospital everyday to have his stitches cleaned and looked at.

tissue - a grouping of cells in a living thing that performs some function in an organ (See Wikipedia)
nerve tissues -  เนื้อเยื่อ สมอง  เส้นประสาท

wound - an injury with damage to the skin บาดแผล,  แผล, บาดเจ็บ
heal - when the skin grows back over a wound after an injury หาย, คืนด,ี เยียวยา

wound heals 
wound starts to heal

he could now move his hand a little and the nerve tissues have started to heal.

apprehended - arrested; caught by the police
apprehended by police.

three of the six attackers including the machete-wielding man have been apprehended by police.