Saving the hand of a sword attack victim
In April 2024 a man armed with a sword injured several people in Hainault including police officer, Yasmin, who was taken to The Royal London Hospital.
Within 30 minutes of arriving at the hospital via air ambulance, Yasmin was already in surgery to save her hand.
Gurjinderpal Singh Pahal, lead clinician for the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at The Royal London Hospital, was one of the surgeons involved.
He said that the speed at which he was able to mobilise trauma theatre and assemble anaesthetic, nursing and surgical teams meant that the surgery to save her hand was carried out successfully.
“All the tendons, nerves, blood vessels and muscles in the forearm were severed, and key to the management of ensuring the limb was salvaged was the speed at which theatre was mobilised and emergency surgery commenced,” he said.
“Due to the number of patients requiring emergency limb – salvage surgery on that morning, we cancelled all plastic surgical elective cases and had three theatres running in parallel, with three consultant microsurgeons working simultaneously in different theatres.
"It was a huge team effort and part of the success was the fact that we could quickly assemble a team of consultants who were trained microsurgeons, as well as the unwavering support from our nursing and anaesthetic colleagues.
“Six hours later we had managed to ensure all blood vessels, nerves, tendons and muscles in her forearm had been repaired, and her hand was saved."
During this crucial time, Guj made sure to keep Yasmin’s relatives informed of what was happening during surgery.
“We always want to keep families updated in real time, so I spoke to them at the beginning of the operation as a way of introducing myself, so they knew who I was,” he said.
“Then I also spoke to them at length after the surgery to provide reassurance as to how things went.”
Following surgery, Yasmin then entered a period of recovery and 12 months later, had 90% use of her hand back. Suffering the same wounds, had there been a delay in access to theatre, would have resulted in permanent impairment and suboptimal functional outcome.
According to Guj, the techniques used on Yasmin’s hand have been around for years, and plastic surgeons with an interest in microsurgery are trained to rejoin arteries, nerves and tendons. He is confident that she should have the remaining 10% function of her hand back and she has made significant progress towards this already.
Speaking about her patient experience at a recent board meeting, Yasmin described the ‘village’ of carers; with surgeons, therapists and family working closely to support her recovery. She also said that this support had been impressive, adding that she hoped to return to a front-line role in due course.
“I am extremely pleased and impressed with the progress made by Yasmin and her aim to get back to work was my ambition as well,” Guj said.
“The key to the success of the surgery has been down to two things; the speed in which the right surgeons were able to get Yasmin into surgery coupled with her engagement with her rehabilitation.”
On 23 June 2025, Marcus Monzo was found guilty of seven offences, including murder, three counts of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of an offensive weapon. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and must serve at least 40 years in jail.
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