The surgeon who performed a life saving surgery in Africa with instructions texted from a friend in London.

A British doctor volunteering in DR Congo used text message instructions from a colleague to perform a life-saving amputation on a boy. Vascular surgeon David Nott helped the 16-year-old while working 24-hour shifts with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Rutshuru. The boy's left arm had been ripped off and was badly infected and gangrenous. Mr Nott, 52, from London, had never performed the operation but followed instructions from a colleague who had. Mr Nott knew he needed to perform a forequarter amputation, requiring removal of the collar bone and shoulder blade. He contacted Professor Meirion Thomas, from London's Royal Marsden Hospital, who had performed the operation before. He texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it. The operation is only performed about 10 times a year in the UK, usually on cancer patients, and requires the back-up of an intensive-care unit. Patients usually lose a lot of blood during the procedure. Mr Nott had just one pint of blood and an elementary operating theatre, but the operation was a success and the teenager made a full recovery.