The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-02-04
4 MODERN HEROINE,
Della Eagan Allows Flesh to be
Cut From Her Legs
To Build Up Scalp on Minnie wilck's
Fleshless Head - Her Motive was
Purely Love for Her Friend
Especial to THE HERALD-Examiner Dispatch

Especial to THE HERALD-Examiner Dispatch. /
New YORK, Feb. Sup in Bellevue hos
pital, wheeling herself about in a rolling
chair, is young girl nineteen years of age,
who well deserves high place in the
annals of heroism. Her name is Della
Eagan. She has said she is willing to be
fayed alive If she can only restore to health
again ner lifelong friend, Minnie Emma
Wick. She will not have to be actually
hayed alive, however, but she will be
SCARED for life. A long strip of flesh has
already been taken from each of her legs to
build up a scalp on Minnie WHck's fieshless
head, and great deal more Will have to be
taken from her body before the friend for
whom she has sacrificed so much will be
fully restored. She barred her flesh last
Wednesday when the grating was begun
as II 1t were the most ordinary thing in the
world.
Mrs. Wick, it will be remembered, is the
young wife OF Herman Wick proprietor of
a laundry. TIE day after last Christmas
she was caught in the betting of the works
and hurled up against the ceiling. She had
a long, luXurant head of hair and the belt
ing glued her to the ceiling by her
tresses. For a few seconds she hung
there and then dropped to the floor She
had been scalped completely. The woman
was taken to the hospital and SO was her
scalp, wrapped up in g newspaper, bit by
bit The torn flesh was adjusted to her
head and was seWed on. A week went by,
and While everything at first promised to
turn out successfully, the result was a fail
ure The scalp adhered to the skull in one
or two places, but bit by bit it began to die
about the edges. All these points that did
not adhere were cut off, till at last the
whole original scalp had been pruned away.
One ear had fallen off entirely, and the
whole scalp had withered. BY January 10
Mrs Wick was completely recovered other
wise, but her head was one big sore.
Her husband when told that skin graft
ing was necessary, offered to give the flesh
from his own body for the purpose
Preparations were made for the operation
last Wednesday, but by that time the bus
band was so broken down IN health by con-
slant watching at his wife's bedside that
the doctors refused to take him as sub
ject. Then it was that Della Eagan came
to the rescue The doctors placed her I'M
der the influence of ether, barred her legs
and cut strip Of skin foot long and
nearly three inches wide from each of her
limbs. The two strips of skin that were
taken from Della were then adroitly adj
justed to the feshless head of Minnie
The surgeon glued one of them on to the
front Of the skull aud down On the side and
the other they neatly affixed to the Uranium
just above it, Once more Mrs. Wick was
swathed in bandages and the slow, tedious
healing process was begun. Yesterday
Della was told more skin would be needed
to cover her friends skull, and she said she
might as well spare more. 81 hope.
though" she said, 1.-The doctors will take
the rest Off my back somewhere. can
sleep on my face, and the sores won't hurt
so much then.''