The rescue team had a radiophone and they called for a helicopter, but
because bills for previous rescue flights were in arrears, the aviation
authority refused to fly. They were referred to the governor of the
territory. They called the governor’s office, and they were told he would
have to think about it. Hours passed, and Sokolov was slipping. They
made more calls: to a well-connected Russian tiger researcher and then to
his ex-wife, who eventually got in touch with Dale Miquelle, the
American tiger biologist in Terney. Miquelle agreed to vouch for the
flight and, finally, the helicopter took off. By then, it was late afternoon
and, still, the stretcher-bearers had not been able to reach the tractor.
Sokolov was drifting in and out of consciousness. When the helicopter
arrived, there was nowhere to land so they had to winch him up through
the trees in a basket.
By the time Sokolov finally arrived in the hospital, the doctor gave him
hours to live. His leg became a secondary concern then; simply saving his
life was now the priority. When he was eventually stabilized and
conscious again, Sokolov was greeted with the news that his leg would
have to be amputated. By then, more than twenty-four hours had passed
since the attack, and the wound had gone septic. Even the bone itself
became afflicted with an infection of the marrow (osteomyelitis). The
mouth of a tiger, even a healthy one, is a filthy place, and Sokolov
required massive doses of antibiotics. He had to have a cannula (a
semipermanent intravenous device) inserted under his collarbone and,
like this, he was parked in the hospital, attached to an IV drip, for
months. During this time, close friends managed to find doctors willing
to try to save his leg, which they managed to do with multiple surgeries,
plates, and screws. Whether he would ever be able to walk on it again was
another matter. For months afterward, Sokolov was held together with a
stainless steel armature called an Ilizarov apparatus, which gave him the
macabre appearance of a human being under construction.
Immediately after the attack, Inspection Tiger examined the site and
determined that it was an unfortunate accident and chalked it up to human
error; no attempt was made to pursue the tiger. When Sokolov’s boss
came to the hospital to explain what had actually happened—that he had
ron
(Ron)
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