Journalist Miles O’Brien, who previously covered the U.S. space program for CNN and currently works at PBS, said that he had to have part of his left arm amputated after an accident.
In a blog post, O’Brien said that he wished the story behind the amputation was more exciting, but the accident happened at home. After a recent trip to Japan and the Philippines to report, he began stacking heavy containers with his TV gear in a cart. One of the cases fell on his left arm, which then swelled.
“Ouch! It hurt, but I wasn’t all ‘911’ about it,” O’Brien wrote. “It was painful and swollen but I figured it would be okay without any medical intervention. Maybe a little bit of denial?”
A day later, on Feb. 13, it did not appear to be getting any worse. On Feb. 14, though, it was so bad that he needed to see a doctor. O’Brien said he was diagnosed with acute compartment syndrome. “I had to Wiki it, but in essence it is an increase in pressure inside an enclosed space in the body,” he wrote. “This can block blood flow causing a whole host of serious, life-threatening consequences.”
The doctor rushed him to the hospital and had an emergency fasciotomy to relieve the pressure, but it was clear that the issue was getting worse. He was then given a choice “between a life and a limb.”
The doctor decided to have his left arm amputated above the elbow.
According to Variety, O’Brien covered space news for CNN and is currently the PBS NewsHour science correspondent.
“Life is all about playing the hand that is dealt you,” O’Brien wrote. “Actually, I would love somebody to deal me another hand right about now – in more ways than one.”
image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
