Surgeon stationed in Antarctica removes his own appendix (1961)

Many years ago (early 90s?) I looked into a job in Antarctica. The job stipulated that you had to preventatively remove your appendix prior to your tour of duty to avoid exactly this situation. I believe they also wanted you to replace your dental fillings (replacing the metal with a composite substance) to avoid problems caused by the cold (I assume).<p>It was all rather irrelevant to me in the end since I discovered that at the time the British Antarctic Society did not accept women (I believe this has since changed).

There have been many cases of self-surgery under extreme circumstances. Coincidentally stumbled upon a list of 10 incredible ones. <a href="http://listverse.com/2008/12/09/top-10-incredible-self-surgeries/" rel="nofollow">http://listverse.com/2008/12/09/top-10-incredible-self-surge...</a>

That is crazy. I don't think I would have the stomach for that myself, but I guess being a surgeon already would help.<p>I remember a related story of and Aussie medic imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp successfully removing the appendix of a fellow prisoner with only a shard of broken glass.<p>Personally, I just hope I am never in a position like that.

In 2003, hiker Aron Ralston amputated his own arm with a pocket knife after a boulder fell and pinned him down.<p><a href="http://hike.mountainzone.com/2003/news/html/030502_amputate-arm.html" rel="nofollow">http://hike.mountainzone.com/2003/news/html/030502_amputate-...</a>

This leads to a related question. Assuming you're in a situation where it's your best option, what's the best way to kill yourself without tools? I assume dying of dehydration / exposure is not particularly enjoyable, and a set of circumstances might exist where it would be better to get it over with...<p>(See below for the link to the guy that cut his arm off to avoid dying. I don't think I would be able to make it through the bone, so I would like to have this option filed away in case I need it some day :)

Brings up memories of one of the best CGA games ever:<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_&#38;_Death" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_&#38;_Death</a>

Sheer amazing. I wonder how his vitals would have compared to a regular appendectomy? Were his vitals concurrent with an appendectomy performed so late (literally the day before it would have burst), were they better because he was focused on the task at hand, or was his vitals worse? It's a shame we'll likely never know and there'll likely never be another auto-appendectomy performed.

Wasn't this posted here in 61?

Didn't Jack do that on Lost?