Surgical art or a miracle? Last February, no one at Kepler University Hospital in Linz expected 39-year-old Helmut Seiller to be able to hold his hand after it was smashed by an excavator.
In fact, he just wanted to put a piece of wood under it, as he had done before, and it had always worked well until then. What followed was a careless moment with dire consequences: In February of this year, Helmut Seiller – as reported – smashed his right hand while handling an excavator. “My first thought was: ‘The hand is gone’. Fortunately, the rescue chain was quickly set in motion, I was aware of everything. The people around me seemed more shocked than I was,” said Seiller.
“There was an opportunity to tinker”
The picture presented to the trauma surgeons at Kepler University Hospital initially did not bode well. Dr Andreas Kastner and his team assumed they would have to amputate the hand. The doctor recalls: “During the operation, however, there was an opportunity to try things out and tinker. And so we managed to save the hand with functional limitations. The challenge was to first clean up everything that was destroyed and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. The bones were then stabilized and the arteries and tendons reconstructed before the vessels were attached. The difficulty was that one part was damaged beyond repair and we had to make do with artificial spacers.”
“Slowly I can even understand it again”
The operation took no less than nine (!) hours. Since the accident more than ten months ago, the 39-year-old has had to undergo two more operations. But the progress makes the associated pain bearable for Seiller: “Since the last operation I can move my thumb and bring it back together with my index finger. I can even grab something again slowly.” Even the trauma surgeon is surprised by the healing process: “It’s going surprisingly well. It’s hard to say what the end result will be. In any case, the goal is to make things from everyday life possible again, from pointed to high grip.”
Guest at ServusTV
Helmut Seiller and trauma surgeon Dr. Andreas Kastner will be a guest at “Servus am Abend Spezial: The big review of the year” on Friday, December 30 from 6:05 p.m.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
