[TheForge] fingers -- re-attachment best practices??

[Andrew Vida]

Ca '51 or '52 one of my other dad's, Parker Bohn Sr. blew his right 
thumb off when a 12ga malfunctioned.  Barbara (wife, RIP) took him to 
Freehold Area Hospital where the ER docs said the thumb had to come off. 
  He basically said, "fuck you , y'son of a bitch" and left.  Anyone who 
knew Parker would recognize the demeanor immediately.  BTW his grandson 
is Parker Bohn III... some celebrity in pro bowling circles.

They milled around town looking for a doctor and found a combat surgeon 
fresh from Korea who replaced the thumb.  Parker had limited use, but it 
was world's better than not having it at all.  He was a welder at a dry 
dock in Perth Amboy - a shipyard I myself worked in for awhile. 
Coincidentally, it was Parker who got the ambulance for me when I ground 
the ends off two of my own fingers when I was 16.  I considered us as 
kindred spirits ever since. :)

On 1/12/2013 11:04 PM, Mike Spencer wrote:

> In the 50s, my friend saved my life by applying a tourniquet after a
> failed rocket experiment.  A piece of metal had passed through my
> middle finger at the medial/distal joint, nearly severing it and
> others severed my ulnar artery. Happily, my friend had Scout
> training (tourniquet managed correctly) and an orthopedic surgeon was
> on call so I kept the distal phalanx, albeit with a frozen joint. I'm
> very grateful to those guys.  The only thing I can't do that I'd like
> to is finger-pick a banjo.