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Plastic pioneers: How war has driven surgery | Plastic pioneers: How war has driven surgery |
(40 minutes later) | |
By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website | By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website |
A curator removes the lid from a brown box in the archives of a museum at the Royal College of Surgeons. | A curator removes the lid from a brown box in the archives of a museum at the Royal College of Surgeons. |
Inside, wrapped carefully in tissue paper, is the cast of a man's face. | Inside, wrapped carefully in tissue paper, is the cast of a man's face. |
The soldier was one of thousands who received devastating facial injuries during World War I. | The soldier was one of thousands who received devastating facial injuries during World War I. |
Where once his nose would have been there is only a strange indentation, like a thumb pushed into dough. | Where once his nose would have been there is only a strange indentation, like a thumb pushed into dough. |
The cast was made to help a medical team, led by plastic surgeon pioneer Sir Harold Gillies, work out how to repair the man's face. | The cast was made to help a medical team, led by plastic surgeon pioneer Sir Harold Gillies, work out how to repair the man's face. |
As Dr Andrew Bamji, a medical doctor and former curator of the Gillies archive explains, the war led surgeons to attempt ground-breaking procedures, which paved the way for modern plastic surgery. | As Dr Andrew Bamji, a medical doctor and former curator of the Gillies archive explains, the war led surgeons to attempt ground-breaking procedures, which paved the way for modern plastic surgery. |
"When you are trying to devise techniques for things that have never been done before, you have to experiment, and you experiment in different ways," he says. | "When you are trying to devise techniques for things that have never been done before, you have to experiment, and you experiment in different ways," he says. |
"You try different techniques, but by pulling everyone together into the same place, everyone has the opportunity to learn." | "You try different techniques, but by pulling everyone together into the same place, everyone has the opportunity to learn." |
Dr Harold Gillies set up a multi-disciplinary team of surgeons, nurses and artists at what was then the Queen's Hospital in Sidcup, south-east London. | Dr Harold Gillies set up a multi-disciplinary team of surgeons, nurses and artists at what was then the Queen's Hospital in Sidcup, south-east London. |
The artists took casts of the men's faces and recorded their injuries in meticulous detail as portraits, before the days of colour photography. | The artists took casts of the men's faces and recorded their injuries in meticulous detail as portraits, before the days of colour photography. |
The team worked together to try to repair the devastating injuries of war, using grafted flaps of skin and transplanted rib bones. | The team worked together to try to repair the devastating injuries of war, using grafted flaps of skin and transplanted rib bones. |
One of the sculptors who worked alongside surgeons at the Queen's Hospital, taking casts of the men's faces, was Kathleen Scott, wife of Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Scott. | One of the sculptors who worked alongside surgeons at the Queen's Hospital, taking casts of the men's faces, was Kathleen Scott, wife of Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Scott. |
Almost a century later, her granddaughter, Louisa Young, has written a novel based around the work at Queen's, now Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup. | Almost a century later, her granddaughter, Louisa Young, has written a novel based around the work at Queen's, now Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup. |
"She was a sculptor and she was working with the surgeons by making casts of the wounded and scarred faces for the rebuilding," explains the novelist. | "She was a sculptor and she was working with the surgeons by making casts of the wounded and scarred faces for the rebuilding," explains the novelist. |
'Poetry' of art | 'Poetry' of art |
Young's protagonist, Riley Purefoy, is fictional, but he is inspired by one of the portraits made by Sir Henry Tonks of some of the wounded soldiers. | Young's protagonist, Riley Purefoy, is fictional, but he is inspired by one of the portraits made by Sir Henry Tonks of some of the wounded soldiers. |
Tonks trained as a surgeon but chose to follow a career as an artist. He encouraged students to combine anatomical study with an appreciation of what he called the "poetry" of drawing. | Tonks trained as a surgeon but chose to follow a career as an artist. He encouraged students to combine anatomical study with an appreciation of what he called the "poetry" of drawing. |
While in some ways his paintings are medical records, they also capture something very human; a glimpse of the horror that many war veterans hid from the world. | While in some ways his paintings are medical records, they also capture something very human; a glimpse of the horror that many war veterans hid from the world. |
Louisa Young says memoirs written by a matron at the Queen's Hospital provided further ideas for the story. | Louisa Young says memoirs written by a matron at the Queen's Hospital provided further ideas for the story. |
"She reported this anecdote about a young man who, having suffered a horrible facial injury, rejected his girlfriend. | "She reported this anecdote about a young man who, having suffered a horrible facial injury, rejected his girlfriend. |
"He told her he had fallen in love with someone else. And that was very interesting - whether he was being honourable and gentlemanly or whether he was being arrogant and presumptuous - and what she might think about that, and how they might proceed in that situation. | "He told her he had fallen in love with someone else. And that was very interesting - whether he was being honourable and gentlemanly or whether he was being arrogant and presumptuous - and what she might think about that, and how they might proceed in that situation. |
"And they were all terribly young - the way you are living your life and have hardly had a chance to start your life and then history comes and throws everything up in the air and you land broken - and then what?" | "And they were all terribly young - the way you are living your life and have hardly had a chance to start your life and then history comes and throws everything up in the air and you land broken - and then what?" |
Now, the Gillies collection is being catalogued and restored to go on display at the Hunterian Museum within the Royal College of Surgeons in central London. | Now, the Gillies collection is being catalogued and restored to go on display at the Hunterian Museum within the Royal College of Surgeons in central London. |
The archives gathered during the war include medical case notes, paintings, plastic casts, surgical instruments and teaching aids. | The archives gathered during the war include medical case notes, paintings, plastic casts, surgical instruments and teaching aids. |
They are powerful testimony to the advances made by modern surgeons in the past 100 years. | They are powerful testimony to the advances made by modern surgeons in the past 100 years. |
As Louisa Young explains: "Now we're terribly good at fixing things up. Modern maxillofacial surgery is stupendous. It's astounding what they can do." | As Louisa Young explains: "Now we're terribly good at fixing things up. Modern maxillofacial surgery is stupendous. It's astounding what they can do." |
The novel, My Dear I Wanted To Tell You, has been nominated for both the Wellcome Trust Book Prize, celebrating medicine in literature, and the Costa Book Awards. | The novel, My Dear I Wanted To Tell You, has been nominated for both the Wellcome Trust Book Prize, celebrating medicine in literature, and the Costa Book Awards. |
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