Man who lost both hands and one foot trying a basketball slam dunk says he didn't feel any pain when it happened
A man who lost both hands and one foot trying a basketball slam dunk says he didn't feel any pain when it happened
Over a decade ago, Terry Vo injured himself while playing with a friend at their house in Perth, Australia.
Just 10 years old at the time, Terry was thrown the ball and attempted to dunk it in the hoop, which was hanging over the garage wall.
However, as he made his run up, the wall collapsed, crushing him.
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Speaking to ABC news about the accident, Terry said: "Everyone was like, 'yeah, dunk it, dunk it!'" Mr Vo recalls.
"I started to hear the walls crack from left to right, and it was like slow motion.
"I didn't feel any pain just because of the shock."
By the time Terry woke up, both of his hands and one of his feet had been severed.
"There was a bone sticking out of my right arm and my left arm was torn," he recalled.
"My foot was cut off as well … I could still feel it but I couldn't move it."
However, unaware of the scale of his injuries, the young boy attempted to walk.
He said: "But obviously, I fell down. I landed on my elbows.
"That's when sound started coming back to me and I heard screaming from the parents."
Robert Love is the specialist plastic surgeon who led the operation to save Terry's arms and legs, putting together a complex plan with his team.
He said: "It became immediately obvious that this was a very unusual injury.
"[We knew] we would need to muster all of the resources that a hospital of Princess Margaret's excellence would be able to muster.
"This is where it was very unusual to try and mount three separate teams so that all three parts could actually be replanted synchronously within an acceptable period, such that it would give all the parts the maximal chance of survival," Dr Love says.
"That meant multiple different teams.
"Whilst in the operating theatre … there was a feel of enormous camaraderie and enormous spirit."
And despite the extensive nature of Terry's injuries, Dr Love said he was impressed with how he dealt with it.
Adding: "People will approach their injuries in many different ways.
"Terry himself has touched the hearts of many of those who were involved in his care because of his positive attitude and his preparedness to find good in every part of his care."
Dominic Smithers