Ping-pong ball saves girl's life
Categories: Toddlers, Medical conditions, Weird but true
I'm a big fan of finding new uses for things, and this is a great example. A two-year-old Australian girl, born with biliary artresia, was undergoing surgery to receive a liver transplant when Dr. Albert Shun found a problem. It seems that the adult-size liver was too big and was putting pressure on the girl's blood vessels -- a potentially deadly situation.Dr. Shun came up with a creative way to solve the problem. "I rang my wife and asked her to go to Big W and buy me some ping-pong balls," he said. The doctor used the ping-pong ball to keep the liver off the arteries and relieve the pressure. "There shouldn't be any complications. We are in a unique situation in Australia because we have a low donor rate so we have to be adaptable," he said.
The young girl is now up and running about like a normal two-year-old. "She is so normal now. She is a happy kid," said the girl's mother. Sounds like a good use of a ping-pong ball to me.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pamela 9-29-2008 @ 8:48PM
oh please brad, your on the wrong page!!!, we're talking about a sick little girl here, have a heart and get a life!!!
Reply
Charles 9-29-2008 @ 8:53PM
now this one use for a ping-pong ball great thinking doc
Reply
willy 9-29-2008 @ 10:19PM
GUESS WHAT'S IN BRAD'S BRAIN (if still some there)
Reply
me 9-29-2008 @ 11:03PM
everytime I think about this story I can't help but smile.
This was an absolutely brilliant doctor who came up with an excellent but simple way to save a life.
I can only hope that one day I can become that great a doctor,
Reply