Even with his blood pouring out, Jorge Eduardo Yaso exhibited serious sang-froid.
The Colombian policeman had intervened to break up a brawl earlier this month in San Cristóbal, just south of Bogotá, when his lower right arm and his right hand was severed with a machete. In spite of the “stress’ of the situation, Yaso told newscaster Noticias Caracol this past weekend he had the wherewithal to use his left hand to pick up his right hand and take it with him as he was rushed to the Police Central Hospital.
After a nine-hour surgery, he is expected to recover “most” of this arm and hand mobility within a few months. The surgeon, Dr. Hernando Laverde, told Noticias Caracol that the fact that the cut was to his arm, rather than a wrist with multiple nerves, helped facilitate the successful surgery.
Yazo added that the machete hand was cut off as he raised his arms to protect himself when a man attacked him with a machete. Bogotá police (with all hands on deck) are seeking information to lead to the capture of the culprit.
