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80 S«
plum the Germans were literally dying to pick.
At the hospital, Shaffer, who by now had lost a great deal of blood, was immediately given a transfusion of whole blood as he was being pre' pared for X-ray. A surgical team composed of Major R. W. Robertson of Paducah, Kentucky, and Captain Robert E. Jones of Tifton, Georgia, prepared the dying soldier for what seemed to be a routine operation. Rob' ertson realized that Shaffer's lung had been punctured and decided to suture it. He removed a piece of one rib to permit him to get into the chest cavity. The moment he attempted to pull the lung together, however, the patient began to gush blood through the opening and the doctor immediately knew that the heart had been hit. The lung had partially collapsed against the heart wound, thereby preventing excessive bleeding.
"My God," he muttered, "the bullet collapsed the lung and penetrated the man's heart. He should have been dead two hours ago!"
But Shaffer wasn't dead. Nor did the doctors intend to let him die, even though at this point he was more dead than alive. His blood pressure had
np January -February, 1930
dropped to zero and what pulse there had been became inaudible.
Despite these apparently insurmountable odds, the doctor continued the operation. His nimble fingers clamped, tied, sutured. A glance at the readied tanks and a few words to his assistants indicated that whole blood and pure oxygen were to be administered under pressure. As he sutured the jagged wound in the heart, Robertson couldn't help marveling at the wonder of a punctured lung which had veritably sealed the heart, thus saving the soldier's life. Shaffer rallied immeasurably at the completion of the heart surgery — but the most mystifying aspect of the entire case was still to come.
An examination of the X-ray plates revealed that the bullet had entered his body on the right side of the chest, but now was lodged in the left hip region. The doctor admitted that this was a very unusual situation. He and his partner deduced that the bullet must have been deflected downward upon striking a rib.
"Hate to see what the kid looks like inside," Robertson mumbled. "His guts must be torn to shreds."
A deft incision was made in the abdomen ; but once again the surgeon's eyes widened with surprise. Cautiously probing through Shaffer's belly, he momentarily expected to discover the wake of devastating wounds that would have resulted from the slug. His hands gently inspected the stomach, the liver, the kidneys, and, finally, the intestines. Jones, the other half of the surgical team, took a closer look at what was happening. His mouth slowly opened as his disbelieving eyes