Awesome work on the surgeon's part. Is there a reason this couldn't have been done by telephone, or that text was a better option?

I saw him interviewed on the news yesterday evening and he said the signal was too poor to communicate effectively, but texts seemed to go through fine.

Edit: I just wanted to double-check this so found a video of the interview - it was the voice-over that said the line was poor, not the surgeon himself: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7762920.stm

Actual sms text:

"dude u got 2 cut off yr lft arm lolz"

Am I the only one who couldn't stop laughing at the quote "It was suggested that he had been bitten by a hippopotamus while fishing"?

Actually hippopotamuses are known to be quite dangerous and territorial. Don't ever go near one.

And yes, I do believe it is "hippopotamuses" (see http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/plur...)

Also, they're very hungry. I know first hand that no matter how many marbles you feed them, they still want more.

first hand?????

yes.

I was just laughing at how much different some parts of the world are than mine, not at the boy's misfortune. I probably should have clarified.

My worst fishing experience involved snagging my brother in the cheek when he walked behind me. (Well actually it was his worst fishing experience, I thought it was awesome at the time.)

That kid was suggested to have been attacked by a fucking hippo, which means its common enough there that when someone walks into a hospital without an arm, people consider that the most likely reason.

Now that's tech support. I have trouble just getting people to click on the "start" button by phone.

Hats completely off to these guys.