Improving Ambassador Lippert to be discharged as early as Tuesday

It is said that the health condition of U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert (42) who has been hospitalized in Yonsei University Severance Hospital is now improving to the point where he could have breakfast and appears that he could be discharged as early as next Tuesday or Wednesday.

The doctors said that the Ambassador went to bed at around 3:00 a.m. possibly due to the shock from previous day’s knife attack and woke up at around 7:00 a.m. when doctors are making their rounds. According to the doctors, he said “I had a sound sleep” even though he slept only 4 hours. “I appreciate the effort by my doctors and special attention from Korean people”, said Ambassador Lippert in Korean. When Chung Nam-sik, president & CEO of the hospital, showed him a morning newspaper with a photo of Korean people who are holding a picket that reads “We love you, Ambassador Lippert”, he added “Thank you.” It is said that he had “American breakfast” with cereal, salad, toast and coffee. Earlier in the morning, newly-appointed Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo made a visit to the hospital.

His doctors say that the ambassador doesn’t have pains on the fact but complained slight numbness in his arm where he had a penetrating wound. “The numbness seems to go down in two to three days,” said the doctors. “We were worried that his temperature went up to 37.7 degree Celsius at some point but it came down to normal range of 37.1 degree Celsius in this morning.”

It appears that Ambassador Lippert will be discharged on either Monday or Tuesday after the doctors take out the stitches on the face and the remaining stitches on his arm with a penetrating wound are expected to be removed in ten days after his discharge. A plastic surgery specialist Park Deok-jun reckons that “It takes relatively long time for bodily wounds caused by dog or animal bite to be healed and they usually leave scars. Since his injury was caused by a very sharp knife, it seems that his injury will be healed up with little remaining scars.” Medical experts expect, however, that he could suffer posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after he is discharged from the hospital. They added that special care should be given to him for the possibility of PTSD even though Ambassador Lippert is known to be a man of broad-minded.

bluedot@donga.com