Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Look at Private Lynch's Injuries

Aired July 22, 2003 - 08:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Later today, we're going to hear for the first time from rescued prisoner of war Private Jessica Lynch.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from CNN Center this morning to talk about the progress she's made ask also what lies ahead for her.

Hey, Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

It's three and a half months now since she was rescued. She's had a pretty significant time during that period of time. She's undergone operations for her leg and her back.

For doctors, it's always important to take a look at the nature of the injuries, exactly what occurred. What we can piece together is in fact that her Humvee was actually a grenade landed near that, causing a significant blast injury to that area, and then the Humvee itself actually slammed into a truck in front of her. Important because several different things take place during an accident like this. First of all, the blast injury from the grenade so significant in fact that that probably led to the death of several soldiers at that time, but also then the significant acceleration, deceleration injury of her Humvee into the vehicle in front of her. Likely what happens is the legs slam into the bottom of the vehicle. The right arm goes out to try and brace yourself. Sometimes the back twists, also possibly causing injuries there.

No surprise then when you take a look at the list of her injuries that we can now confirm as a result of this accident. Fractures of her left leg, both upper and lower. The upper bone in the left leg incidentally is the femur, a very large bone, takes a while to recover from that. Also her right arm, because of that bracing, her right foot, right ankle, and then the vertebra in her lower back as well.

All these injuries, Soledad, can take some time to recover from. It sounds like she's had several operations already to try -- the leg's really being the rate limiting step here, in terms of her walking. She is walking with a walker. Also, Soledad, obviously the recovery is not only physical, but also emotional. Her doctors refer to something known as memory trace, really saying that Private Lynch had no -- cannot remember at all any of the events surrounding the accident. Some people refer to that as retrograde amnesia, meaning the memory, her loss of memory actually extends backwards, but this is not a full blown amnesia. She is making a recovery otherwise psychologically. It could be several weeks, though, before she's actually up and about on her own -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: Sanjay, quick question for you. Earlier we spoke to a former teacher of Jessica's and said, she's upbeat, she has a wonderful attitude. That's been reiterated by the military officials where she's been recovering. Is that, to some degree, 85 percent of her recovery, just mentally how she can deal?

GUPTA: I think so. There's no question that she wants to improve. Her mood has been upbeat. That's going to play a significant role. Obviously, these big bones, especially that big bone in the upper part of her left leg, takes a while to heal, Soledad. She's got a lot of metal in there now, rods and things sort of holding things together.

One thing she has as well, Private Lynch, is the benefit youth. Being so young, she is more likely to make a physical recovery that much quicker -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN Center for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 22, 2003 - 08:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Later today, we're going to hear for the first time from rescued prisoner of war Private Jessica Lynch.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from CNN Center this morning to talk about the progress she's made ask also what lies ahead for her.

Hey, Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

It's three and a half months now since she was rescued. She's had a pretty significant time during that period of time. She's undergone operations for her leg and her back.

For doctors, it's always important to take a look at the nature of the injuries, exactly what occurred. What we can piece together is in fact that her Humvee was actually a grenade landed near that, causing a significant blast injury to that area, and then the Humvee itself actually slammed into a truck in front of her. Important because several different things take place during an accident like this. First of all, the blast injury from the grenade so significant in fact that that probably led to the death of several soldiers at that time, but also then the significant acceleration, deceleration injury of her Humvee into the vehicle in front of her. Likely what happens is the legs slam into the bottom of the vehicle. The right arm goes out to try and brace yourself. Sometimes the back twists, also possibly causing injuries there.

No surprise then when you take a look at the list of her injuries that we can now confirm as a result of this accident. Fractures of her left leg, both upper and lower. The upper bone in the left leg incidentally is the femur, a very large bone, takes a while to recover from that. Also her right arm, because of that bracing, her right foot, right ankle, and then the vertebra in her lower back as well.

All these injuries, Soledad, can take some time to recover from. It sounds like she's had several operations already to try -- the leg's really being the rate limiting step here, in terms of her walking. She is walking with a walker. Also, Soledad, obviously the recovery is not only physical, but also emotional. Her doctors refer to something known as memory trace, really saying that Private Lynch had no -- cannot remember at all any of the events surrounding the accident. Some people refer to that as retrograde amnesia, meaning the memory, her loss of memory actually extends backwards, but this is not a full blown amnesia. She is making a recovery otherwise psychologically. It could be several weeks, though, before she's actually up and about on her own -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: Sanjay, quick question for you. Earlier we spoke to a former teacher of Jessica's and said, she's upbeat, she has a wonderful attitude. That's been reiterated by the military officials where she's been recovering. Is that, to some degree, 85 percent of her recovery, just mentally how she can deal?

GUPTA: I think so. There's no question that she wants to improve. Her mood has been upbeat. That's going to play a significant role. Obviously, these big bones, especially that big bone in the upper part of her left leg, takes a while to heal, Soledad. She's got a lot of metal in there now, rods and things sort of holding things together.

One thing she has as well, Private Lynch, is the benefit youth. Being so young, she is more likely to make a physical recovery that much quicker -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN Center for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com