Man Uses Knife for Self-Tracheotomy

Posted: 2008-05-10 12:01:32

Filed Under: Top News

OMAHA, Neb. (May 9) - An Omaha man struggling to breathe used a steak knife to perform an at-home tracheotomy. Steve Wilder said he thought he was going to die when he awoke one night last week and couldn't breathe.

woot.com

Wilder said he didn't call 911 because he didn't think help would arrive in time. So, the 55-year-old says, he got a steak knife from the kitchen and made a small hole in his throat, allowing air to gush in.

"It just blocked all the way and I just got up and I panicked," he told a local TV station, WOWT in Omaha. "Got a knife and located it and pushed in and blood went gush."

Wilder suffered from throat cancer and related breathing problems several years ago. About that time, he had an episode where he couldn't breathe because his air passages swelled shut. He said that's what happened this time around.

Doctors don't expect Wilder to suffer any adverse affects from the tracheotomy once it's healed.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2008-05-09 08:02:36

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