Thus inspired, he started collecting samples from other patients with traumatic open-head injuries (though none with quite such an unusual cause as the first).
He may be his country's first Olympic gold-medal winner for 44 years, but Ruben Limardo has not let the glory go to his head - taking public transport hours after collecting his medal.
"As the hull has been removed, the team is now shifting their effort to collecting minor debris that remains on the reef, " the head of the salvage operation, Navy Capt.
In wistful moments, Wilner laments that the market for collecting period frames purely as art objects in and of themselves has never built up the head of steam he predicted.