Dr Lukas Steffen had a long free weekend

Well, that was the plan

He had planned everything perfectly: from Friday to Sunday the Swiss man wanted to explore the beautiful Peruvian countryside and relax.  But then on Thursday a severe accident happened on the Panamericana and five severely injured patients were lying side by side in Diospi Suyana’s A+E.

4 fractured thighs, one pelvic ring fracture and one serial rib fracture and that is only the start of a long list of injuries…!

On Saturday evening Dr Steffen – looking rather tired – sent a few pictures to our website.   On the computer screen one can see one of the four fractured thighs.  The young surgeon had performed four challenging operations since Thursday evening.

But one could say it is his own fault!  Had he stayed in Switzerland he would have had a free and relaxing weekend.  It was his decision to go into the mission field.  Will the patients thank him for his efforts?  As a small thank you from our side he receives a N-95 breathing mask.  Then he can put the textile mask he is wearing into a drawer at home.  We can be generous with these masks, since 60,000 were donated to us; but that is a totally different story. /KDJ

The upper right thigh is totally smashed.
X-ray of a boy’s thigh; even a non-medic sees that something is not quite right.
This 34-year old woman also came to the hospital with a forearm fracture of the ulna and a few other injuries.  At a different hospital she was told that she should come back in 3 weeks bringing the metal plates for her operation with her.
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