LIFE RESTORED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 151, 7 April 1933, Page 3

LIFE RESTORED.

OPERATION IN LONDON. % * A woman patient who was convalescing in a London hospital recently has been dead, but does not know it. It is hoped by the hospital authorities thfrt she never will know and her identity is a secret kept by a few people who fought t° bring her back to life. Even her nearest relatives have been told no more than that she was at one time seriously ill. The woman was admitted to St. George’s Hospital suffering from a complaint that demanded an immediate and extensive operation. The operation was completed, hut, while still under an anaesthetic the patient collapsed. “It was as complete a collapse as we have seen,” an official of the hospital stated to a Press representative. “She was, in fact, dead.” Coramine was injected into her veins and adrenalin into her heart and a fight began that lasted all night. In the morning science had won. The operation proved a success. The wounds were healed and the patient was able to enjoy her usual meals and the life of a normal convalescent. There are numerous cases on record of life having been restored, hut few in which the recovery was complete, particularly as in this case, when associated with the strain of a serious operation. A successful case was that of a Blackburn man who received a severe electric shock recently. Ambulance men who went to his aid used a new breathing apparatus and* the man had almost recovered by the time he reached hospital. Both in Great Britain and on the Continent many eases have been reported of breathing being restored at varying periods after the heart had stopped, but in most cases death was merely delayed. Two instruments have been devised with a view to restoring life. One works on. the principle of stimulating the heart muscle by plunging into the heart a needle carrying current. The other, called “Drinker’s Machine,” is claimed to make the patient breathe without any effort. The drug adrenaline is an extract derived from the suprarenal glands of animals. It has been in use for many years.