The Man Who Saved a Thousand Babies Pdf

 N A  R  R A  T  I  V  E  N  O  N  F  I  C  T  I  O  N

 r  e  a  d  s  l  i  k  e  f  i  c  t  i  o  n  —  b  u  t  i  t  '  s  a  l  l  t  r  u  e

4

SCHOLASTIC SCOPE •

 NOVEMBER 2015

A hero is a person who is courageous, outstanding, or noble. In what way was Vivien Thomas a hero?

AS YOU READ, THINK ABOUT:

Man  Who Thous  Babies

The a

   P    H    O    T    O    C    O    L    L    A    G    E   :    C    H    R    I    S    T    O    P    H    E    R    B  .    S    H    O    R    T  .    B    A    B    I    E    S   :    C    O    R    B    I    S  ,    G    E    T    T    Y    I    M    A    G    E    S  .    T    H    E    A    L    A    N    M    A    S    O    N    C    H    E    S    N    E    Y    M    E    D    I    C    A    L    A    R    C    H    I    V    E    S    O    F    T    H    E    J    O    H    N    S    H    O    P    K    I    N    S    M    E    D    I    C    A    L    I    N    S    T    I    T    U    T    I    O    N    (    V    I    V    I    E    N    T    H    O    M    A    S    )  .

SCOPE.SCHOLASTIC.COM

 •

NOVEMBER 2015

5

Saved and

VIVIEN THOMAS WAS ONE OF THE GREAT HEROES OF 20TH-CENTURY MEDICINE. SO WHY HAVEN'T  YOU HEARD OF HIM?

BY LAUREN TARSHIS

O

ne-year-old Eileen Saxon was dying. Tiny and  weak, she weighed just 9 pounds. Her lips and fingernails were dark blue. She'd been born with a heart condition that starved her body of oxygen. It was clear that she had little time left.



   S    H    U    T    T    E    R    S    T    O    C    K    (    H    E    A    R    T    )   ;    T    H    E    A    L    A    N    M    A    S    O    N    C    H    E    S    N    E    Y    M    E    D    I    C    A    L    A    R    C    H    I    V    E    S    O    F    T    H    E    J    O    H    N    S    H    O    P    K    I    N    S    M    E    D    I    C    A    L    I    N    S    T    I    T    U    T    I    O    N    (    S    U    R    G    E    R    Y    )

 African Americans and other minorities was  widespread. Much of the country was segregated— black Americans were kept separate from white  Americans. Black people  were banned from most  white schools and nearly all universities. They were turned away from hospitals, barred from sitting in the front of buses, forbidden to swim in public pools or set foot in many public libraries. There were some African-  American doctors, but they were not allowed to work in most hospitals, including Johns Hopkins.  Yet in the operating room on that November day, it  was Vivien Thomas, an African-  American man, whose knowledge  would make the difference between life and death for Eileen Saxon.

Shattered Plans

Thomas grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, a segregated city  with a vibrant African-American community. He attended Pearl High School, which was known for its

rigorous

 standards. Thomas graduated with top grades and planned to attend college and then Eileen's condition was not unique. At the time—the early 1940s—thousands of so-called "blue babies" were born each year. Most lived no more than a few  years, because doctors had no way to help them. That was about to change. On November 29, 1944, Eileen  was wheeled into an operating room at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. People  watched from a glassed-in gallery above, eager to witness the first attempt ever made to perform surgery on a blue baby's heart. Three doctors hovered over Eileen, plus a team of the hospital's most experienced nurses and other medical staff.  When it came to the success of the operation, though, the most important person in the room was not a doctor or a nurse. He was a soft-spoken young man, trained as a carpenter, who stood on a stool looking over the chief surgeon's shoulder. This young man—Vivien Thomas—had never been to medical school or even college, but each time the surgeon was ready to make a cut or stitch into Eileen's tiny chest, he would listen for Thomas's instructions. Today, Thomas is considered one of the most important figures in 20th-century medicine. Back in 1944, however, almost no medical school in America would have accepted him as a student.

 A Time of Prejudice

In the 1940s, racism against

6

SCHOLASTIC SCOPE •

 NOVEMBER 2015

Ñ

THE HEART

In a healthy heart, blood travels through the heart to the lungs, where it receives oxygen. Then the blood travels back through the heart and out into the rest of the body. A blue baby's heart has defects that allow blood without enough oxygen to travel through the body.

medical school. Since the age of 11, he had worked weekends and afternoons as a carpenter, saving money for his education. But in 1930, the year of his high school graduation, Thomas's plans were shattered by the Great Depression. This national economic crisis led to millions of Americans losing their jobs. Banks closed their doors, and many people, including

The Man Who Saved a Thousand Babies Pdf

Source: https://www.scribd.com/doc/290528362/saved-a-thousand-babies-scope