Get over to home hardware...STAT!

[brimo]

A good news story...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/20/2575505.htm

[Magnus]

amazing 

[Buckethead]

Bad.

Ass.

I'd like to buy that man a beer.

[Porsche Monkey]

Imagine the repurcussions if the operation failed.  Big props to the Doc.

[Bun-bun]

Great story.
I volunteered my time in a long term care facility for children with severe retardation, cerebral palsy, etc. for a while back in the '80s.
Most of the kids were bedridden, and the nurses had trouble moving some of them for bed linen changes. They had a cradle attached to a boom that used a small electric motor to raise and lower the boom, but they only had two of these. When I asked why so few, the charge nurse told me that they cost $3000 each, and they counln't afford any more of them.
     The following week, I bought an engine hoist for $150, and brought it in. We sterilized it with bleach, and used it that day. Worked like a charm, the only difference was that the nurses had to pump the jack instead of pushing a button. The facility (St. Mary's infant childrens home, Norfolk VA) now has 5 engine hoists, at a cost of less than one patient cradle.