Surgical feats amidst the horrors of a full scale war
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Although many books have been published on the war, this is the first attempt by a Doctor of Medicine who was operationally involved and serving in the thick of war for almost the whole duration of the conflict to record his experiences.
It was non-stop reading. In this age of social/electronic media taking much preference over print media, I salute the author for making the book so interesting.
Dr. Goonetilleke maybe one of the few surgeons in our country who had put the Hippocratic Oath of his noble profession to the acid test, under primitive conditions in the war-torn North, Eastern and North Central Provinces during the ’80s and ’90s. Treating civilians and military personnel alike, Dr. Goonetilleke explains his surgical feats to the reader in simple terms, the gruesome nature of injuries with fully illustrated photographic evidence captured by his Olympus trip 35 mm camera. I may gently caution the faint-hearted in this respect.
He has also revealed many instances where his role as a general surgeon had to encompass many other disciplines such as vascular, thoracic, neuro, orthopaedic and anaesthetic to name a few, given the life threatening urgency of traumatic injuries with only a skeleton staff to support him. I am sure the sensitive reader will be filled with emotion, learning how the victims, on the brink of death ultimately recovered, some even after unavoidable amputations to continue with their usual routine as best as possible, their relieved families pouring gratitude over this compassionate man and his team who gave them a further lease of life.
The book also gives further insight into civilian and military life in the North with interesting episodes and his experience in managing casualties of physical and psychological trauma.
In a lighter vein he relates instances of taking the aerial route to Palaly HSZ amidst the risk of LTTE missiles and once in a Y8 transport aircraft mistakenly seated on a barrel bomb!
He describes his medical adventures during IPKF occupation and thereafter his role as an examiner at the Medical Faculty in LTTE-controlled Jaffna during 1994 with express approval of the Supremo!
Another phenomenal task was the pivotal role he played in rescuing two fishermen from Tiger custody with assistance from the ICRC as they required medical assistance outside Jaffna. He also describes his involvement with the Jaffna Teaching Hospital after 1995 with the Government Forces recapturing Jaffna.
Another vital area he delves into is on various explosive devices and related injuries from blasts and burns and their management. The full gravity of severe injuries as a result of shock waves, shrapnel and burns from anti-vehicle/personnel landmines and improvised bombs are well explained with photographs and diagrams.
The author has spared no pains in describing the horrific nature of a full scale war which can only be felt by those directly involved. The sole reason we in our comfort zones never realised it, was due to their ultimate sacrifice of life and limb and a few indispensable persons like Dr. Goonetilleke whose presence on the spot and unwavering commitment saved the day on
many occasions!
I strongly recommend this extremely informative, illustrated book to readers and as an essential asset to any library. We would love to have Sinhala/Tamil translations in order to capture a much wider range of the reading public as well. -Rohan Bambaradeniya
| Book facts | |
| The Extra Mile- by Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke |
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