#CHIMPANZEE ATTACKS SKIN#

But we also have my dog Angie who I've had for nine years now. One of the very first people that I talked to in South Africa was a counselor and he really helped me through a lot of things. Going through something like this, you know, something so traumatic, your world is kind of crushed and shattered and you really have to start rebuilding and trying to make sense of what happened, so having counselors. We're also really focusing on emotional health and spiritual transformation. Kraemer does in his team as well as all the different providers from physical therapy, occupational therapy. This is a team approach where we bring the awesome plastic surgery and reconstruction that Dr. It's not just patching up your wound and sending you out the way and then sending you out to the and then sending you out to the. We really look at trauma care as a holistic approach with the patient. And it also tells your body what kind of cell needs to go in that exact spot.Ĭredit (via Facebook) Andrew Oberle before he was attacked in the summer of 2012. Your body starts to like build over it as a scaffolding. It's a powder derived from pig's bladder that when you pack it in a wound, what it does is it kind of fast tracks the healing process. Kraemer also uses a really cool product called Matristem. That was probably the most miserable three weeks out of my entire recovery.

#CHIMPANZEE ATTACKS SKIN#

I was basically in a sutured skin sling, if you want to put it that way. They cut a flap into my belly and actually sewed that flap to my arm. Since my wrist was destroyed, I needed to have new tendon connections in there to help me move it. But once I got to Saint Louis University, my awesome doctor, Bruce Kraemer, he's the chief of plastic surgery there and he did a lot of really cool things to help get me back up and running. A lot of that care was really just to keep me alive and get me a little stronger so I could come home to St. In South Africa, a lot of the care I received was to fight off infection. Tell me about the care you received and the technology that helped you recover. Lost over half of my right foot and all the toes on my left foot. A bunch of chunks ripped out of my back and my legs. I lost most of my fingers, all except my ring finger on the left and both of my thumbs. I have a nice gash on the side of my face that caused some paralysis on the right side. lost a lot of my scalp, both of my ears and my nose. But they ended up tearing me to pieces.Ĭan you describe the extent of your injuries when they attacked you? Something made them mad, not sure what happened.

And one day, I was giving a tour and a couple of guys managed to get out of their enclosure. So I went there to conduct some master's research on chimpanzee tool-use behavior. I was a graduate student at the University of Texas in San Antonio. Louis Public Radio’s Eli Chen spoke with Oberle about his physical trauma and what the Oberle Institute offers its patients.Įli Chen: Andrew, talk to me about where you were and what you were doing when the chimps attacked you.Īndrew Oberle: I was in South Africa.

The Oberle Institute launched a pilot program over the summer and recently finished treating its first patient. He helps raise funds for the institute and also serves as a patient advocate. Today, Oberle serves as the director of development for the Oberle Institute, a trauma care program at Saint Louis University that is supported by foudations. His ability to overcome his traumatic experiences led him to want to help others in who've experienced extreme physical injuries. The animals tore his flesh from head to toe and he nearly died.īut after 26 surgeries and extensive therapies at Saint Louis University Hospital, Oberle recovered. In June 2012, Andrew Oberle, an aspiring primate researcher, was brutally attacked by two chimpanzees at a zoo in South Africa.

Chimpanzee attacks