MC is pinned and only way to get free is to cut off her hand. Her only goal is to get to a meeting and deliver a message to stop a war. Said meeting is a 2-3 hour journey on foot away. Since she doesn't care about infection/nerve damage, would the quickest way to get moving again be to burn the wound close or attempt to bind it one-handed?
Time for a SCRIPTY TWO-PARTER!Â
Anonymous said:Is it realistic for a normal human to be able to carry something heavy after losing a major limb? Say, they just lost their arm but have to carry their buddy (who is about their body weight) only wise they will die.
(I want to ask what a âminor limbâ might be, but this blog isnât marked as NSFW and I donât wanna start nowâŚ..)
Hey there humans! Letâs talk ampumutations.Â
Amputations take a lot out of a person, even disregarding the circumstances surrounding them. In one case we have presented, a character decides to amputate her own hand (or to have someone do it to her); the mental energy and the pain is downright exhausting. This is just as bad as an amputation from some unexpected circumstances like a battle.Â
Next comes blood loss. Hemorrhage is a major complication of amputation, and a field amputation is an especially bloody proposition.Â
In all cases, the best answer is âtourniquet before the amputationâ (when itâs possible). This will preserve circulating volume, which will allow them to do as much as they can after the amputation.Â
Cauterization will take far longer than placing a tourniquet before the amputation and bandaging the stump. Something has to heat up the blade before itâs applied to the skin, and the potential passing-out afterwards isnât so convenient on a time front.Â
Can it be done? Sure. Is it a good idea? No, but people do strange things when they think theyâll miss their One Goal⢠â or they havenât been trained otherwise.Â
In other words: an it harm not the realism, do what ye will.Â
Capabilities Immediately AfterÂ
Between blood loss and emotional trauma, I have significant doubts about anyoneâs ability to do great feats of heroism after an amputation.Â
As for carrying a battle buddy, the answer is probably not. Itâs difficult enough to carry someone with two arms; with one amputated (and no time to adapt), carrying the buddy is just not likely.Â
As for traveling a few miles to a meeting, I might believe that, if only because a hand amputation is less likely to cause severe bleeding than a whole arm amputation, and because itâs the characterâs choice (and thus she can prevent blood loss as she goes).Â
However, what I would believe and what audiences would believe are two different things. I wouldnât throw either book across the room as long as the hero essentially collapses at the end of their Heroic Featâ˘.Â
Before You Go: A Small History Lesson
By the way, do you know why we run marathons as a sport? Gather round, kids. Wind back the clock to 490 B.C.. Pheidippedes is a warrior in the Athenian army. When the Athenians defeat the invading Persians on the shores of Marathon, he makes a run back to Athens to carry news of the victory â a full 26.2 miles of running.
Pheidippedes delivers his message of glorious victory, breathless and panting â and drops dead of exhaustion. (Probably rhabdomyolysis, actually.)Â
We run marathons because some dude died of them. Humans: perpetually Doing the Dumb for +- 300,000 years.Â
I hope this helped both of you, or was at least marginally interesting.Â
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