Urgently my surgeon sought permission to use the hyperbaric chamber at the deep-​sea diving complex at Dyce, near Aberdeen, Scotland. This could help circulate oxygen in the small amount of blood left in my body. Permission was granted. There followed a five-​mile [8 km] dash by ambulance from Aberdeen to Dyce where I was put under pressure equivalent to that of 50 feet [15 m] below sea level.

This was a new experience for all concerned, as the chamber was normally used to depressurize divers employed on the North Sea oil rigs. For its first use in postoperative treatment, two nurses and a technician, all in their 20’s, accompanied me into the unit where they had to stay until it was depressurized. Outside, hyperbaric specialists manned the complex controls.

Under Pressure

As air was pumped into the chamber, the pressure inside rose. Breathing through a mask at two and a half times the normal atmospheric pressure meant that I was filling my lungs with two and a half times the usual amount of oxygen. Forcing the gas into solution in the fluid component of my blood (now bolstered by volume expanders) made up for the lack of hemoglobin.a