Doctor in Australia Performs Emergency Surgery with Household Drill

The rural hospital in Maryborough, Australia doesn't have any instruments on hand to perform neurological surgeries. So when Doctor Rob Carson realized that his young emergency room patient was suffering from bleeding inside his skull, he used a power drill from the maintenance room to drill into his skull to relieve the pressure -- and save the boy's life. The boy, Nicholas Rossi, was brought to the hospital by his father Michael after falling from his bike and hitting his head on the pavement.

"Dr. Carson came over to us and said, 'I am going to have to drill into (Nicholas) to relieve the pressure on the brain — we've got one shot at this and one shot only,'" Michael Rossi told The Australian, a local newspaper. Carson consulted with a neurosurgeon in Melbourne who talked him through the delicate procedure, telling where to drill and how deep to go.

The procedure happened quickly, in less than a minute, and when blood came out it was clear that they had hit the right spot and relieved the building pressure on Nicholas' brain. Eventually, Nicholas was airlifted to a Melbourne hospital and he was released yesterday, on his 13th birthday.

One of the more amazing parts of the story is that a doctor in Australia would even attempt such a procedure. In the United States, the heroic doctor would likely have to consider the insurance and legal ramifications of attempting the procedure and may have chosen to simply not take the chance. Fortunately for Nicholas Rossi, he lives in Australia.