An Olympic athlete has had his finger amputated after he suffered an injury just so he can play in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Just two weeks ago, Matthew Dawson, a 30-year-old hockey player from Australia, suffered a badly broken finger on his right-hand during a team training session in Perth, Australia, and, after consulting with doctors, he found out the injury would take months to recover from and that he would miss out on the opportunity to play in his third Olympic Games.
But instead of opting for a long recovery, Dawson made a decision that would shock his teammates and has already made headlines around the world. He decided to amputate his finger so that he could compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
I find it somewhat shocking that the doctors agreed to amputate. You can’t force patients to make good decisions, but amputating a finger because he doesn’t want to wait for it to heal seems to go beyond what’s ethical. If he wasn’t going to be stopped from going regardless I guess you could make an argument it was harm reduction.
Or they might have been worried that he would do it himself if they said no.
That’s what I was thinking… if the doc doesn’t do it then this pounds a bottle of whisky and has his buddies get the hedge trimmers
I would say letting a finger stop you from playing in the Olympics when you’re a hockey player and individual fingers aren’t all that necessary would be the sort of thing that would weigh on someone for years. Leading to clinical depression, in fact. I wouldn’t blame a doctor for doing it. As you said, harm reduction.
That said, this is his third Olympics, so I don’t know if that would be enough in this case.
It’s a legitimate decision… It sounds like a bad one IMO (I’d try to play through the pain in a brace or I could or I’d ride the bench personally), but doctors should give you your options then help you.
You can a normal life without a finger, and it absolutely does heal more quickly. It’s an option, and I’d say a doctor that doesn’t present it to you when you ask about options should lose their license