Orthopedics: Rejoined at the Ankle

Able Seaman Liang Chin-kai 23, was working on the deck of a tugboat in Canton harbor when he got involved in a classic accident that is dreaded by all sailors. His leg was tangled in a towing cable that suddenly snapped tight, all but amputating his right foot at the ankle joint. At Chung Shan Medical College Hospital No. 1 two hours later, Doctors Huang Cheng-ta and Li Pingheng, both 36, were faced with an extraordinary operation: the restoration of a foot attached to Liang's leg only by shreds of muscle, tendon...

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