Seattle doctor at Standing Rock: ‘People had sheets of ice hanging off them’ – Protester’s arm nearly torn off

Desdemona Despair

By Liz Jones
23 November 2016

(KUOW) – A few Seattle doctors returned this week from a rotation in Standing Rock, North Dakota. That’s where an estimated 2,000 protesters are demonstrating against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. We talked with one doctor, who was part of triage team as the standoff escalated Sunday night.

Dr. Robie Sterling finished his residency at Swedish Medical Center a few months ago. Not long after, he traveled to North Dakota with two other doctors from Swedish.

But he was alone in the medic tent when the radio call came in Sunday evening. There was a confrontation happening at the front line.

Sterling: “Police were starting to shoot the rubber bullets.”

Police also used water sprays and tear gas. 

It was dark, below freezing, and injured people started to pour in.

Sterling: “The initial ones were nearly all head shots. Pretty much everyone had a concussion. Some of them had lacerations to the head. One woman had an eye injury.” [more]

Seattle doctor at Standing Rock: ‘People had sheets of ice hanging off them’

24 November 2016 (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) – The arm of a Jewish woman was mostly torn off while she was protesting against the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

Sophia Wilansky, 21, of New York City, was taken on Monday to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, according to Reuters, where she is undergoing surgery to save her hand. She arrived in serious condition.

Protesters allege that Wilansky was injured by a police concussion grenade used for crowd control.  Law enforcement officials say that the protesters were making explosives out of propane bottles and that is what exploded and injured the woman. Over the weekend, law enforcement had used water cannons to disperse the protesters, despite sub-freezing temperatures. […]

Her father told a Minneapolis television station that most of her radius bone is missing, her arteries are gone, and the main nerve and about 80 percent of the muscle on her forearm were blown away. He told reporters at the hospital that doctors said she will need as many as 20 surgeries in the coming months in an attempt to save her arm and her hand.

It is reported to be the most serious injury since the protests began. [more]

Arm Of NYC Jewish Woman Protester At Standing Rock Nearly Torn Off