WASHINGTON (AP) _ He had to operate with his left hand because there was no room to use his right in the crevice of the bombed-out federal building in Oklahoma City. He had broken four scalpels, so he reached into his back pocket for a pocket knife to complete the amputation.

Standing on the White House lawn Friday, Dr. J. Andy Sullivan, chairman of the University of Oklahoma’s orthopedic surgery department, remembered once more the war-zone experience in a place far from any known battle lines.

Sullivan, 51, and Dr. David Tuggle, 42, his colleague at the university’s Health Services Center, had just received an Oval Office thank you from President Clinton for their work last April 19 after a terrorist bomb shredded the Alfred P. Murrah federal building.

Clinton offered congratulations and talked about the how the Oklahoma City bombing had brought people together across the country, Sullivan recalled after the meeting.

In August, the two doctors received the 1995 Weigelt-Wallace Award for exemplary medical care. The award, worth $50,000, was established last summer by Texas billionaire Ross Perot. The two brought the award certificate with them to the White House.

``I’m honored, and a little bit embarrassed,″ Sullivan said of the award. ``There were a lot of others who were equally deserving.″

When Sullivan and Tuggle arrived at the demolished building, they found 20-year-old Daina Bradley pinned in the rubble by a steel beam that was the sole remaining support propping up the building’s central section. Her right leg was crushed below the knee, beyond saving. She was lying in six inches of cold water and was in shock.

It soon became clear that doctors could either amputate or ``leave her there to die,″ Sullivan said. Tuggle assisted, passing instruments to Sullivan and monitoring Bradley’s vital signs.

``Between the two, they saved her life,″ a White House statement said.

``Because of the angle, all I could use was my left hand,″ the right-handed Sullivan said. ``All four scalpels broke. The leg was still attached. We couldn’t move the beam without maybe bringing down the building. I used the pocket knife to cut through the muscle of her knee.″

The experience ``was like suddenly being transported into the middle of a war,″ Sullivan said. ``You just don’t expect it to be happening in downtown Oklahoma City.″