Seok, 58, survives operation following Samho Jewelry rescue mission 


Surgery on the seriously wounded captain Seok Hae-kyun of the Samho Jewelry was showing neither optimistic nor pessimistic results, doctors at Ajou University Hospital said Sunday.

Hospital chief Ryu Hee-sug, said the captain’s three-and-half-hour operation was tough.

“Vast amount of necrosis on the fascia and muscles as well as inflammation around the abdomen where he was shot had to be removed. We also had to open his legs, arms, knees and thigh and took out two bullets from both of his legs,” he said.

“The most important thing is that we have taken precautionary measures against septicemia, which could take away his life,” he said.

The doctor said the injuries could have threatened Seok’s life had he received treatment any later. Seok will have to be operated on several more times if he is to make a full recovery.

The hospital had arranged a full-range operation team consisting of orthopedists, plastic surgeons, neurosurgeons, cardiothoracic and more when Seok arrived there unconscious at around 11 p.m. Saturday. He was carried from a branch of Ajou Hospital in Oman, where he had been examined and received first aid.

Seok, 58, is credited with helping the Korean military’s rescue operation of his ship on Jan. 21 after he was held by a group of Somali pirates on Jan. 15 in seas off the Gulf of Aden.

He steered the ship in a zigzag and stalled for time when the pirates ordered him to mobilize the vessel toward the Somali coast. He was shot by the pirates during the rescue mission.

The commandos killed eight pirates, captured five and successfully rescued all crewmembers including eight Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 Burmese.

President Lee Myung-bak praised Seok’s courage and ordered his aides to dispatch his doctor and medical specialists to help the captain’s recovery.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heradlm.com)