Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table

Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table
Stephen Westaby

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY PRIZETHE SUNDAY TIMES NO.2 BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE BMA PRESIDENT’S AWARD 2017An incredible memoir from one of the world’s most eminent heart surgeons, recalling some of the most remarkable and poignant cases he’s worked on.Grim Reaper sits on the heart surgeon’s shoulder. A slip of the hand and life ebbs away.The balance between life and death is so delicate, and the heart surgeon walks that rope between the two. In the operating room there is no time for doubt. It is flesh, blood, rib-retractors and pumping the vital organ with your bare hand to squeeze the life back into it. An off-day can have dire consequences – this job has a steep learning curve, and the cost is measured in human life. Cardiac surgery is not for the faint of heart.Professor Stephen Westaby took chances and pushed the boundaries of heart surgery. He saved hundreds of lives over the course of a thirty-five year career and now, in his astounding memoir, Westaby details some of his most remarkable and poignant cases – such as the baby who had suffered multiple heart attacks by six months old, a woman who lived the nightmare of locked-in syndrome, and a man whose life was powered by a battery for eight years.A powerful, important and incredibly moving book, Fragile Lives offers an exceptional insight into the exhilarating and sometimes tragic world of heart surgery, and how it feels to hold someone’s life in your hands.

(#uf798782c-3c73-51a1-bcb1-d9fe66b548ca)

copyright (#uf798782c-3c73-51a1-bcb1-d9fe66b548ca)

HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2017

FIRST EDITION

© Stephen Westaby 2017

Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com

Text illustrations © Dee McLean

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Stephen Westaby asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at

www.harpercollins.co.uk/green (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/green)

Source ISBN: 9780008196783

Ebook edition: February 2017 ISBN: 9780008196776

Version: 2017-12-02

dedication (#uf798782c-3c73-51a1-bcb1-d9fe66b548ca)

This book is dedicated to my wonderful children Gemma and Mark, and to my granddaughters Alice and Chloe.

contents

Cover (#ue1f124b3-b88e-5d8f-ab6e-bf17b137ae56)

Title Page (#ua9162a1a-6b3b-5171-8170-8847cbeeede8)

Copyright (#u6f005df0-760e-5d4d-81f2-766381339760)

Dedication (#u57042ce7-7bb6-50da-b36c-2a1b8f7dc2f7)

Foreword (#u3d74b20d-6879-5315-91d5-d61629ced5bf)

1 The Ether Dome (#u12c69a43-347c-51a6-9a58-8f2cf916c278)

2 Humble Beginnings (#u571cfb99-420e-5529-a7f2-dfd423e50ced)

3 Lord Brock’s Boots (#u610e5da1-31ad-5770-b9d2-adbd4e8a9303)

4 Township Boy (#u14265480-5989-54a7-b2c0-476e82d506a0)

5 The Girl with No Name (#u34a2ab25-4ecd-518b-8265-d13d760eca7d)

6 The Man with Two Hearts (#litres_trial_promo)

7 Saving Julie’s Heart (#litres_trial_promo)

8 The Black Banana (#litres_trial_promo)

9 Domino Heart (#litres_trial_promo)

10 Life on a Battery (#litres_trial_promo)

11 Anna’s Story (#litres_trial_promo)

12 Mr Clarke (#litres_trial_promo)

13 Adrenaline Rush (#litres_trial_promo)

14 Despair (#litres_trial_promo)

15 Double Jeopardy (#litres_trial_promo)

16 Your Life in Their Hands (#litres_trial_promo)

Afterword (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Glossary (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)