Page 3 Advertisements Column 2

Manawatu Herald, 4 December 1897, Page 3

The "Unfortunate" Young Man. « It is 4dite probable that nine-tenths of those whose eyes meet these lines have at some time or other been accosted by that questionable member of pociety whose only excuse for the intrusion is that " he wants the price of a mea', and perhaps a bpd, too. He says he is " unfortunate," and cau't obtain aiiy work; tie is generally an impostor, and the de erving cases are so far between as to defy discrimination. The unfortunates are, alas! not confined to able-bodied be<if»ar3, • but may be found in all stations and pursuits of life. Who, indeed, may jna'.l/ be considered more deseiving of pity than the young athlete who, 12 months ago, when in the zenith of his-fame as Victoria's largest scratch crack of the cycle track, came to grief on the grounds of the Scotch College, Melbourne ? We refer to Dave Kirk, of 471 Elizabethstreet North, a popular young fellow; with all lovers of the wheel. When training, the lire of his leader broke, and he was thrown with frightful violence to the ground. The foice of the impact was so great that not a limb or member of the I unfortunate oyolist's frame escaped serious injury, and he who was but a minute earlier dying round the grounds in full possession of health and vigor had to ba removed to the Melbjurne Hospital more dead than a'ive, and quite unconscious from shook and hemorrhage. All the resources that that fully-replenished Jhospital could command were brought into play for the relief of the patient, but the grave looks of the surgeons in attendance plainly indicated that they entertained but slight hopes of the young man's ultimate recovery. An eminent member of the profession expressed it as his opinion that Kirk would never again rise from his sickbed. For seven trying months of pain and suffering poor Dave lay 'twixt life and death— unable to stir hand or foot, unable even to move, a victim of spinal disease, pleurisy, dysentery, complete parolysis of the body, and last, but by no means least, locomotor ataxia, a terrible complaint which utterly prostrates the human frame and destroys the power of the will ; so much so that the common functions of nature ore performed by a power extraneous to the will. An idea of the dreadful injuries sustained by the patient may be gathered from the following details gleaned from Kirk by our representative. His left heel had to be removed, and 32 stitches were inserted in that part of his foot, 18 being placed in his right leg. The kneecap was smashed and had to be lifted. Altogether, saven surgaons had to do with the sufferer, who was reduoed to a very weak and comatose &tata after nine operations had been performed on him. MorlifioaLion set in in parts of the lower limb 3, and artificial means had to be employed to draw off the urine. Th 9 system wag washed internally four times every day with water and carboUo acid, the stomach being cleaned out by means of a tube. Injections were also largely employed. This was a most singular case, and one which must have afforded amply play§ for the physicians' skill and experiment, yet it remained for Dr Williams' Pink Pills to effect a radical and complete cure. After seven months of bed-ridden existence in the Melbourne Hospital, Dave Kirk left that institution with faint hopes of ever been able get about without the aid of crutches, and with all hopes vanished as to hia being again able to enter the cyole arena, where, prior to his accident, hia had been a prominent form. In May last Kirk's friend?, being impressed by the numerous and authentic cures effected by Dr Williams' Pink Pills under all conditions, induced him to give them a trial as a last resource. We will give in lm own words his account of the change resulting from their use. He says:— " Gradually the sense of numbness began to disappear, and the extremities acquired by degrees their wonted healthy glow and warmth. While under treatment in the hospital the sense of feeling entirely disappeared, so much so that when the surgeons would put a needle into any part of my body I was absolutely insensible to the fact. To be sure of the absence of the sense of touoh, the doctors would conceal my vision, and then question me as to the part they were pieroing ; but my answer clearly proved to them that I was absolutely bereft of all sensibility 1 As a final test as to my sense of feeling, I received a shock from a powerful galvanic battery— a shock bo strong that the operator declared it to ba half a volt more than had been given to anyone in the institution for 40 years — but I was unable to feel its effect. After a month's trial of Dr Williams' Pink Pills I was able to throw aside my crutches. But one of the most powerful effects of the pills was the restoration of functional health. Bowel troutles had been a terrible trial to me ever since the day I met with the accident. Regularity in this direction was perfectly set up, and I am now, after four months' taking of these pills, in the enjoyment of perfect health." It wanted no assurance of this, as those who had seen the subject of this narrative are not slow to express their surprise at the picture of health a~d almost completely resuscitated power of body and mind presented in the person of David Kirk. A few days ago Dave gave a practical illustration of his res'ored vitality by pluckily capturing a young fellow (who had srolen one of his bicycles) of heavier bu : ld than himself, and after vanquishing him in a willing encounter lodged him in I the lock-up. An account of the capture appeared in the Age of 23rd September. He (Kirk) is able to trench his large garden, I and walks two miles to and from his busiI nes? place. ' Extract from the Melbourne Argus:—