1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
It’s plain as day.
The United States sucks.
But I’d like to see even ONE of those other 36 nations do this:
Makayla Clary, of South Hill, Va., was a passenger on an ATV that suddenly tipped over.
…
“I initially found her at the accident and had to lift the ATV off of her,” her mother, Cheri Clay, said.
A helicopter carried Makayla to Duke hospital.
Catch that? In order to provide treatment, a helicopter was employed. And she was carried to Duke Hospital. One of the world’s TOP facilities.
Okay, back to the news:
There, doctors said her legs were crushed and had severe cuts and swelling. It looked as if her right leg might need to be amputated, but her surgical team recommended waiting four more weeks, Duke plastic surgeon Dr. Detlev Erdman said.
During that time, Makayla underwent additional therapy, including hyperbaric oxygen treatments. In those, a person breathes pure oxygen in a sealed chamber with a pressure 1½ to three times greater than the normal atmosphere.
“With hyperbaric oxygen, we can actually decrease the swelling while simultaneously providing oxygen for those tissues which are not getting an adequate supply of oxygen,” said Dr. Bret Stolp, with Duke Hyperbaric Medicine.
Makayla spent two hours a day for two weeks in a hyperbaric chamber in pressure equivalent to diving 33 feet below sea level. A head tent fed her 100 percent oxygen.
The treatment accelerated Makayla’s treatment and helped save both her legs.
Recently, she was able to drop her crutches and take a few steps on her own.
“She took three steps towards me, and we just hugged and cried,” Clay said. “To go from an injury where half her leg is basically missing to having almost a complete limb now, it’s amazing.”
Makayla said her big motivation to get better is to return to the softball field, where she plays catcher on her school and recreation center teams.
From amputation to catcher on the softball team.
Not one other medical system on the list could have provided that treatment. Expensive? You betcha. A feature or a bug?
Feature.
‘Nuff said.
