Surgeons: At the Edge of Life

The specialists at Addenbrooke's work against the clock to treat three patients who are suffering from life and limb-threatening injuries.

A critically injured motorcyclist is rushed to hospital after crashing his motorcycle into a fixed metal gate; a single mum of four has sustained severe spinal injuries after a car accident; and a 72-year-old woman has sustained a bad open fracture after falling off the steps of her caravan.

Surgeons at Addenbrooke's Hospital perform brain surgery on a patient who is awake and attempt to repair a section of the body's biggest blood vessel that's threatening to burst.

Surgeons at Addenbrooke's operate against the clock to remove a kidney from a husband and transplant it into his wife who is in end stage kidney failure.

Addenbrooke's surgeons take on two high-risk operations; surgery to excise tumours near the spinal cord and a procedure to remove a dangerous mass off the body's largest vein.

Addenbrooke's surgeons perform life changing scoliosis surgery to straighten the spine of their 17-year-old patient but face the risk of causing paralysis.

Surgeons at Addenbrooke's Major Trauma Centre must operate on two road accident victims who have suffered life-changing injuries so serious they could lead to an amputation.