Miles O'Brien, award-winning science journalist and former CNN correspondent, has revealed that doctors reportedly amputated his left arm above the elbow after a minor injury put his life in jeopardy.
FOX News reported that the 54-year-old journalist and anchor detailed his painful ordeal in a blog post titled "Just A Flesh Wound" and published on his personal website Tuesday, which was verified by PBS.
In the post, O'Brien relived the Feb. 12 accident he suffered while stacking cases of his TV gear onto a cart after a reporting trip to Japan and the Philippines. One of the cases fell on his left forearm.
"I had finished my last shoot after a long reporting trip to Japan and the Philippines and was stacking the Pelican cases brimming with TV gear onto my cart," O'Brien wrote. "As I tried to bungee cord them into some semblance of security for movement, one of the cases toppled onto my left forearm. ... It was painful and swollen but I figured it would be okay without any medical intervention. Maybe a little bit of denial?"
O'Brien said he went home and the next day his arm was sore and swollen. That night he reportedly experienced greater pain and went to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with "acute compartment syndrome," an issue in which "blocked blood flow in an enclosed space in the body can cause life-threatening consequences."
"The doctor told me he suspected that I might be having an Acute Compartment Syndrome. I had to Wiki it, but in essence it is an increase in pressure inside an enclosed space in the body. This can block blood flow causing a whole host of serious, life-threatening consequences."
O'Brien added: "He later told me it all boiled down to a choice...between a life and a limb."
Since then, O'Brien has dealt with "phantom pain, the vicissitudes of daily life with one hand and the worries about what lies ahead," but said he is grateful to be alive and urged readers not to worry.
He ended his blog post poignantly: "Life is all about playing the hand that is dealt you. Actually, I would love somebody to deal me another hand right about now -- in more ways than one."
O'Brien currently covers science for "PBS NewsHour" and is a correspondent for public TV's documentary series "Frontline" and the National Science Foundation's Science Nation online magazine.
