Freak accident victim Kirsty Scott will suffer little scarring, says surgeon
A Perth woman who escaped death by inches when she slipped on ice and impaled her chin on a railing should escape with little scarring, according to her surgeon.
Kirsty Scott and the metal railings outside her Perth flat.
- By Alan Richardson
- Published in the Courier : 22.12.11
- Published online : 22.12.11 @ 02.52pm
Kirsty Scott was rushed to Ninewells Hospital for emergency surgery after she fell onto a five-inch spike as she left her flat on Monday morning.
The 20-year-old youth worker had emergency surgery to have the spike removed after firefighters cut her free.
She gave permission for Douglas Kennedy, consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Ninewells, to speak on her behalf.
He said: ''Kirsty has done surprisingly well under the circumstances. I think she will have surprisingly little long-term consequences after this, considering the injury.''
Kirsty was in surgery for 40 minutes after two hours of preparation. She had already spent half an hour stuck on the fence outside her Oakbank Road home.
Mr Kennedy said: ''We had to carefully remove the spike, but the key is to have all the right bits and pieces in place in the first place so we know it's safe.
''It generally comes out the same way it went in but we have to be prepared to deal with any other problems such as bleeding, so x-rays are important to know where major blood vessels are.
''I said to Kirsty after the operation that she got the full benefit of the resources of the NHS.''
Meanwhile, boyfriend Donald Murray told how he discovered Kirsty after a frantic phone call in which she could only say: ''Help, ambulance, help.''
He was in their first-floor flat as she slipped on the ice in the garden below. He said: ''I ran down and got to her and immediately saw the spike through her neck going up into her head.''
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