Emergency medevac for East Timor president
The president of East Timor, Jose Ramos Horta, was shot in the chest and stomach on 11 February by rebel soldiers at his home in Dili, in a failed coup attempt in the recently independent nation. Ramos Horta was flown to Australia for medical treatment by CareFlight International, who said at the time: "He is in a critical condition on full life support, with a ventilator for breathing and under an induced coma." East Timor, a nation of just over one million people, is a former Portuguese colony that borders Indonesia and is off the northern coast of Australia. It gained independence in 2002 after years of Indonesian occupation. The recent attack has plunged the tiny country into fresh uncertainty, following the firing of 600 mutinous soldiers in 2006, which triggered unrest that killed 37 people and displaced more than 150,000 others. Ramod Horta had to undergo emergency surgery at an Australian army base in East Timor before being flown to the northern Australian city of Darwin for further treatment, according to Ian Badham, a spokesman for CareFlight International. The manager of the Royal Darwin Hospital said Ramos Horta had been infused with 16 units of fresh blood, but doctors were hopeful of a 'very good recovery'. "The abdominal injury is very straightforward, I understand, but there is some concern about his chest injuries," said Dr Len Notoras. "His vital signs are all very stable and I understand before he was sedated, he was speaking in a very clear frame of mind."
The president of East Timor, Jose Ramos Horta, was shot in the chest and stomach on 11 February by rebel soldiers at his home in Dili, in a failed coup attempt in the recently independent nation. Ramos Horta was flown to Australia for medical treatment by CareFlight International, who said at the time: "He is in a critical condition on full life support, with a ventilator for breathing and under an induced coma." East Timor, a nation of just over one million people, is a former Portuguese colony that borders Indonesia and is off the northern coast of Australia. It gained independence in 2002 after years of Indonesian occupation. The recent attack has plunged the tiny country into fresh uncertainty, following the firing of 600 mutinous soldiers in 2006, which triggered unrest that killed 37 people and displaced more than 150,000 others. Ramod Horta had to undergo emergency surgery at an Australian army base in East Timor before being flown to the northern Australian city of Darwin for further treatment, according to Ian Badham, a spokesman for CareFlight International. The manager of the Royal Darwin Hospital said Ramos Horta had been infused with 16 units of fresh blood, but doctors were hopeful of a 'very good recovery'. "The abdominal injury is very straightforward, I understand, but there is some concern about his chest injuries," said Dr Len Notoras. "His vital signs are all very stable and I understand before he was sedated, he was speaking in a very clear frame of mind."