Means worthy of a film put in place by the British Air Force. The Royal Air Force parachuted a doctor and a nurse onto the island of Tristan da Cunha last Saturday. This overseas territory in the south of the Atlantic Ocean, very isolated, has no airport and is only accessible by sea. The operation aimed to urgently help a seriously ill man, suspected of being infected with the hantavirus.
“Army medics were flown more than 11,000 miles from [la base aérienne de] the Royal Air Force from Brize Norton, to the most isolated of the inhabited islands, in order to support Tristan da Cunha’s two doctors, exhausted and short of equipment,” reports International Mailciting The Sunday Telegraph.
The sick person was on board the Hondius, the cruise ship hit by this deadly virus. After experiencing the first symptoms, his condition deteriorated and he was placed on respiratory assistance. Due to a lack of sufficient medical equipment, those responsible for the island of 221 inhabitants then requested help from the United Kingdom army. After a perilous operation due to capricious winds, the man was finally rescued by six paratroopers and two doctors. This is the first time that the British army has parachuted medical personnel to provide humanitarian aid, reports the Ministry of Defense, cited by the BBC. The BBC specifies that the man is now in solitary confinement in a stable condition.
