West Australian boy's limbs reattached

A Perth boy suffered devastating injuries doing the sort of thing boys do every day:

Brave schoolboy Terry Vo will awake today to find surgeons have reattached his hands and a foot which were severed in a horrific basketball accident in Perth.

The Koondoola boy was playing at a friend's home in Alexander Drive, Dianella, when a wall holding a basketball hoop collapsed as he performed a slam dunk at 6.45pm on Saturday.

Gutters sliced through both hands at the forearm and tore off his left leg at mid calf, crushing bones, arteries, nerves and tendons.

The boy was in agonising pain and losing blood but remained conscious throughout the ordeal as school friends collected the severed body parts and called an ambulance.

Princess Margaret Hospital scrambled three medical teams, more than 25 people, for a remarkable procedure involving eight surgeons. Each team worked separately on one of the limbs.

Team leader and plastic surgeon Robert Love said Terry had a 90 per cent chance of regaining full use of his arms and leg, though each limb would be 3cm to 4cm shorter.

There's a photo of Terry with the article: he doesn't look all that tough but looks are obviously deceiving. Hope the little fella comes out of this Okay. Also, congratulations to the Princess Margaret medical staff on a job well done.