Ogden Evening Standard | 1911-01-18 | Page 6 | Sewing the Spinal Cord of a Man

SEWING THE SPINAL CORD OF A MAN Now York, Jan. IS. In an effort to save the life of Pasqual J. Raffalo, a Mouut Vernon policeman, whose spinal spi-nal cord was pierced by a bullet during dur-ing a fight with two men last Friday night, an operation, said by surgeons to be one of the most remarkable ever attempted, will be performed within the next twenty-four hours. Only Raffalo's excellent physical condition has kept him allvo, for not only was one spinal vertebrao shattered, shat-tered, but pieces of bone were pressed against the cord, which was cut by tho bullet Tho proposod operation is to approximate the cord ends and sew them together. Unless It Is found that too much of the cord has been shot away, surgeons havo expressed tho opinion that the operation can bo performed and tho paralysis that has affected the victim be overcome.