From presidents to mayors, another prominent politician missing a finger tip is Rahm Emanuel.
Rahm Emanuel, born 1959, mayor of Chicago (USA), a democrat and advisor to Bill Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s administrations.
He lost part of his right middle finger while cutting meat at a restaurant, where he worked while in high school. Carelessly enough, he then went to swim in Lake Michigan, and some infection in the water entered the wound. The doctors had to amputate first digit of the damaged finger to prevent the infection from spreading further.
What differs lake Michigan from Cousteau’s Precontinent III is the water, which is still and fresh. In non-renewing non salty water, infections have more chances of survival.
But what infection cost the mayor a finger tip? If it really was something in the water, the most probable candidate is Pseudomonas bacteria. They indeed live in water, soil and plants and may lead to amputation, if the bacteria sticks to a fresh open wound.
However, there’s one problem. The bacteria only strikes already very ill people. Healthy human immune system gives Pseudomonas almost no chance.
That means, that Rahm Emanuel had to be either very ill, or received antibiotic treatment and/or had weakened immune system. Since he was in his teens, was at work that day and went swimming afterwards.
If it was an infection, he probably acquired if from somewhere else: from the raw meat he was cutting or from various objects Rahm Emanuel touched on his journey to the lake.
This is confirmed by his own words, admitting he had 5 blood infections, 2 bone infections and a gangrene. That means that he either caught a major infection which opened gates for the rest of them, or had some immunity problems. And we’re talking down to earth human immunity here, not a political one.
That’s just a guess, of course, but has as much chance as having an amputation after bathing in a lake. Rahm Emanuel is in his fifties now, and looks awesome. That amputation probably taught him to take care of himself and his health.
Anyway, I wonder if Rahm Emanuel still wishes he could give the finger to swimming that day?