Hurricane Harvey: Doctor canoes through Texas floodwaters to perform surgery

'We went by canoe and then by a [fire-fighter’s] pickup truck and by canoe again,' the doctor recalls

A Houston doctor is being praised for his dedication after braving the floods in order to reach a young patient requiring surgery – using a canoe.

Paediatric surgeon Stephen Kimmel received a phone call from Clear Lake Regional Medical Centre about performing emergency surgery on 16-year-old Jacob Terrazas, who was in danger of suffering permanent damage if the operation wasn't completed.

The area was flooded as a result of Hurricane Harvey, and the doctor could not drive to reach the young boy.

The hospital managed to contact the local volunteer fire department to help Dr Kimmel.

Speaking to CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront, he recalled the journey: “We went by canoe and then by a [fire-fighter’s] pickup truck and by canoe again. And I felt that these guys knew what they were doing, so I didn’t worry about myself at all the whole time."

A journey that would normally take 15 minutes took them an hour, and he walked the last mile in waist-high water.

“Somebody had to take care of this young man,” he said, “and so I thought, well if I can do it, I certainly should. He was on the way to our institution and I’m glad I was able to make it."

Young Jacob on the other hand, had been afraid.

“We had to get out and I was kind of lost, but tired,” he recalls, “One of the paramedics carried me to the side of the highway and after that we waited for a little bit. It was raining, my mum, my sisters they were just standing there wet. I was getting wet, cold. We were all cold. And we waited for a truck to get here and we got in the truck and left the paramedics.

"It was kind of weird because I got there and I didn’t know who was the doctor because I thought he was just like some, I don’t know, just some dude.”

The surgery was successful.

This isn’t the first time a Texas medical professional has braved flooding in an unusual mode of transport to get to their patient. Back in 2016, when a storm system coming down from Colorado dropped heavy rain for days on Houston and the surrounding area, midwife Cathy Rudd used an inflatable swan to reach her client Andrea Haley, as she went into labour.

Rude told Today Parents at the time that Ms Haley, who had tried to drive to the Texan woman's street and found it flooded, noticed someone floating along the water on a giant rubber swan. Having enlisted her help, the woman floated the swan to Ms Rude's house, and took her to meet Ms Haley truck. The pair drove to hospital and the baby was delivered safely.