In 1961 permanent stations in the Antarctic had only just been built. It was quite literally a new frontier. So when Leonid Rogozov found himself with an acute case of appendicitis, the offending organ had to be removed at the station. The only problem: He was the only man who could perform the operation.

According the British Medical Journal:

He knew that if he was to survive he had to undergo an operation… But he was in the frontier conditions of a newly founded Antarctic colony on the brink of the polar night. Transportation was impossible. Flying was out of the question, because of the snowstorms. And there was one further problem: he was the only physician on the base.

So in the style of the Aaron Ralston of “127 Hours” fame, he decided to operate on himself. In his journal he recounts:

I worked without gloves. It was hard to see. The mirror helps, but it also hinders — after all, it’s showing things backwards. I work mainly by touch. The bleeding is quite heavy, but I take my time — I try to work surely. Opening the peritoneum, I injured the blind gut and had to sew it up. Suddenly it flashed through my mind: there are more injuries here and I didn’t notice them … I grow weaker and weaker, my head starts to spin. Every 4-5 minutes I rest for 20-25 seconds. Finally, here it is, the cursed appendage! With horror I notice the dark stain at its base. That means just a day longer and it would have burst and …

At the worst moment of removing the appendix I flagged: my heart seized up and noticeably slowed; my hands felt like rubber. Well, I thought, it’s going to end badly. And all that was left was removing the appendix … And then I realised that, basically, I was already saved.

And only two weeks later he was working again.

I think we all need a bit of inspiration now and then, don’t you?

[Source : The Atlantic]