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daniellewalsh 's review for:
One thing I really liked about this memoir was that it wasn’t just about Westaby’s life and the actual operations that he carried out - but about the lives of the people under the knife. It included their personal stories and context around the surgery and interestingly after their operations – some showing the success of heart surgery. However, there are the heart-breaking, emotional cases when things don’t go as planned – again reminding us of the complexities of the human body.
I’ve been reading quite a few medical memoirs recently, this one is also great with managing to write using medical jargon but also in an accessible way so it’s not just for people who are ‘medical-minded’ (i.e. me). Also, I am quite squeamish, and at times found myself cringing at some of the operations, but I guess that’s the reality of situations.
It’s strange sometimes how connected the world seems to be. He spent a lot of his career at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford which was five minutes away from my university house. When I posted about this book on a Facebook group two people responded saying that Westaby was responsible for saving their loved one’s lives. Then, the doctor that I work with told me that her ex-husband trained with Stephen himself. It’s a small word, eh!
One part that really got me was when Westaby wrote about Alice, a 20-year-old Oxford Brookes student who collapsed and subsequently died after suffering from fainting attacks. It reminded me of the reality and fragility of life.
Westaby is a very talented man, who has saved countless lives. As a retired surgeon he now voices anger at the bureaucrats and funding around the service and hospitals. A pretty impressive legacy to have as a working-class guy from Scunthorpe, really fascinating and informative.
I’ve been reading quite a few medical memoirs recently, this one is also great with managing to write using medical jargon but also in an accessible way so it’s not just for people who are ‘medical-minded’ (i.e. me). Also, I am quite squeamish, and at times found myself cringing at some of the operations, but I guess that’s the reality of situations.
It’s strange sometimes how connected the world seems to be. He spent a lot of his career at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford which was five minutes away from my university house. When I posted about this book on a Facebook group two people responded saying that Westaby was responsible for saving their loved one’s lives. Then, the doctor that I work with told me that her ex-husband trained with Stephen himself. It’s a small word, eh!
One part that really got me was when Westaby wrote about Alice, a 20-year-old Oxford Brookes student who collapsed and subsequently died after suffering from fainting attacks. It reminded me of the reality and fragility of life.
Westaby is a very talented man, who has saved countless lives. As a retired surgeon he now voices anger at the bureaucrats and funding around the service and hospitals. A pretty impressive legacy to have as a working-class guy from Scunthorpe, really fascinating and informative.