A doctor has saved the life of a teenage boy in the Democratic Republic of Congo by amputating his shoulder. He'd never performed the operation before - so, using his mobile phone, he had to text a colleague in Britain asking for instructions. Rob Norris reports:

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When a British doctor found him in hospital in the town of Rutshuru, the wound had become badly infected and gangrenous. The doctor, who works for the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, knew that the boy would die within days if he didn't take action.

The only way to save him was to perform what's called a forequarter amputation - which means removing the collar bone and the shoulder blade. The doctor, David Nott, knew of only one surgeon in Britain who had the expertise to do it. So, as he explained to the BBC, he sent his colleague a text message:

DAVID NOTT:
Almost immediately he texted me back - the procedure, how to do it step by step. And obviously you have to think for twenty-four hours really whether this is the right thing or not, you know, a little boy in the middle of the Congo with one arm - because it's an enormous operation. In the UK, you'd need an intensive care unit and an HDU unit to do it, and so it was a huge undertaking.

It's all the more remarkable because the doctor was working in a very basic operating theatre, with just one pint of blood for transfusion.

Since he underwent the amputation in October, the boy has made an extraordinary recovery.

Rob Norris, BBC

Listen to the words

a harpoon
a long heavy sharp weapon, similar to a spear, that is fixed to a rope and used for killing certain animals living in water

emerged
become known

caught up
involved (in something bad)

take action
do something

the expertise
the knowledge and experience

intensive care
the monitoring and treatment of seriously ill or injured patients

HDU
short for 'high dependency unit', a medical department that provides life support or organ support in patients who are critically ill

a huge undertaking
a very difficult task

transfusion
when blood that has been taken from one person is put into another person's body (usually after an accident or during an operation)

made an extraordinary recovery
become well again quite quickly, even though it wasn't certain this would happen

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