Sometimes, Hope is the biggest risk worth taking.

N:B: It contains a picture that is bloody!!

Someone once told me that without taking risks, you're definitely not going to achieve anything radical or exponential in your life and when you think about it, it's actually true.
However, there is a thin line between taking calculated risks and making careless mistakes, Most times before taking risks, it's always good to weigh the odds you have Infront of you... If the demerits are by far too much, let's say 90% as against 10% merits, why then take it? Though lots of persons might argue it's high risk high reward, well, we've got different views I guess.

Everything revolving around me now is basically hospital-related, don't blame me fam, it's where I live and work😂
I'm currently doing my orthopaedic unit rotation and there's a case we've had for about three weeks now.
They were doing a peaceful protest and the police force was called but guess what? The police opened fire—and just like that, everything changed. They've been suffering ever after, Nigeria happened to them because everything goes here, how could you open fire on unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest? May God help us.
When you see the wounds caused by guns, believe me, you will never love anything that will bring it close to you.

Three of the victims were brought to our hospital, but one of them was very lucky, he just sustained abrasion, so he has been long been discharged.
The second victim had shattered humerus in the hand whereas the third victim was the most tragic had shattered tibi and fibula in the leg (don't mind the terms, they are just names of the bones)

But That Wasn't Even The Worst Part?

The third victim's wounds was the worst, this is because the bullet destroyed 80% of his vascular supply (that is those vessels that transport blood to our different parts of the body). What this means is that his leg below the gunshot wound isn't getting enough blood supply as they are left with just 20% of blood supply.

We initiated immediate intervention with daily wound dressing and close monitoring, but, everyday we come, the leg keeps deteriorating. We were left with no option other than counselling him on amputation. No one finds it as a welcoming idea nor even wants to hear it at all, but after a while he gave consent for the leg to be amputated.

Then came last week Sunday, we entered the theatre and guess what? We opened up to amputate and the chief surgeon looked at the limb again and the limb was doing all it could trying to survive with the small 20% blood supply it's getting, we all attested to the struggling limb as we could all see it granulating bit by bit.
The chief surgeon said and I'll quote, "Let's give this limb a second chance!"

And that was it, our proposed amputation surgery turned to wound debridement surgery and we reapplied the Backslab and went back to the ward.

I was happy for this guy, he's just 28years old, he was just a victim of circumstance
A casualty of a broken system and state.
I've ever been praying that the 20% comes to his rescue.

So, Did This High-risk Decision Pay Off?

Time will tell—but sometimes, giving hope a second chance is worth more than numbers and I really do hope and pray it pays off and the limb gets to stay.
Sometimes, hope is the biggest risk worth taking.
Amputation isn't a death sentence but it still feels good to have an intact leg.

All Pictures Are Mine

Posted Using INLEO