China - New York passenger saves an elderly man from a bladder rupture

After about 10 hours of flight, an elderly man on a flight from China to New York complained to the crew about the inability to empty the bladder on their own. Fortunately, there was a passenger on board with a medical background who saved his life. This publication writes Newsweek.

What happened

This happened on November 20 on a China Southern Airlines flight, flying from southern China to New York, about six hours before landing.

“Zhang Hong from the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University in Guangzhou and Xiao Zhangxiang from the Hainan People’s Hospital in Haikou have responded to the pilot’s call for medical care,” the statement said.

A passenger who could not empty his bladder on his own was laid on the floor. Then Zhang had to quickly assess the situation. He concluded that there is a risk of rupture of the bladder, which can lead to death.

Zhang commented as follows: “The pensioner's stomach was swollen, he could not sit still and was sweating. The man fell into a state of shock. Perhaps he would have lost his life if we had not taken care of him urgently. ”

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The elderly man’s family later reported that he had a history of enlarged prostate, which is why they suspect it could have caused urinary retention, according to a source citing The Mirror.

Rescue operation

To save the man, doctors pierced his bladder and improvised a homemade catheter. To do this, they used a plastic tube from a portable oxygen cylinder, a syringe from the airplane’s first-aid kit, a plastic straw from a milk box and a tape.

However, Zhang realized that the needle of the syringe was too thin.

“After that, he began to suck urine into his mouth, and then spit it out into an empty wine bottle. Within half an hour, the guy sucked out most of the liquid, ”the newspaper writes.

Zhang later stated that it was an emergency and he could not come up with another way to save the elderly passenger.

“When I saw that a man could hardly tolerate pain, I only thought about how to get urine from the bladder,” he explained.

After the manipulations, the condition of the elderly passenger stabilized, and upon arrival he was examined by a doctor, the source summarized.