Lewisman breaks his back on global voyage 4/2/11
Lewis businessman man Stewart Graham has broken his back while on a round-
The 46-
The islander, who lives in Inverness is the boss of the marine supply firm Gale Force which has bases in Stornoway and Inverness.
He and his wife Trish sailed from Southampton in September for a 12 month circumnavigation
trip on the new-
He said he was in a “dangerously critical” on Tuesday after landing badly on a tree branch when falling off a motorbike in Malaysia.
He had unsuccessfully tried to organise International SOS for an air evacuation and
feared further damage during the tortuous four hour ferry and ambulance trip to the
provincial Langkawi General Hospital in Penang for x-
He said: “The broken back was dangerously unstable as the vertebrae was "burst."
“This means that the bone was shot to pieces and the fragments were at risk of going walk about. Out from the spine would be bad enough but one fragment was pressing into the spinal chord.”
On his blog he explained: “On Tuesday I was unlucky in that I landed flat on my back across the broken branch of a tree which was lying on the ground. I broke the branch and the branch broke my back.”
He initially thought his back was just bruised.
But “I tried to stand but could not” and was felling unconsciousness.
In the Penang hospital he had two rods and eight screws fitted.
He said: “The doctors made me aware early on of the risk of paralysis if any of the shattered fragments of my vertebrae pressed into my spinal chord.
“The CT scan in fact already showed one fragment working it's way into the chord. This was the reason for the numbness and lack of feeling in my feet. Most of that has now disappeared. But some damage was done to the nerves and the remaining tingling will take a little time to repair.”
Mr Stewart set up Gael Force in 1983 to manufacture lobster creels for local fishermen. It now has 120 employees after expansion into supplying salmon farms and the leisure marine sector.