The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-12-19
WITH A NEW SKIN

Miss Jessie ProudfOot of San Rafael
should be proud of her relatives They
are worthy of any young girls most az
dent affection. Within the past two
months seven of them have submitted to
the surgeons knife for her sake. From
their healthy bodies they have allowed
strips of cuticle to be cut to supply the
needs of her emaciated frame and, as
a result, the sufferer, seemingly doomed
to be a cripple for life. will soon be up
and about, flesh and blood monument
to the devotion and self-sacritice OF her
nearest of kin.
In the early part of last summer Miss
Proudfoot narrowly escaped death in the
flames. Where the fire had touched the
body the skin had peeled off in large
flakes in many places, leaving the raw.
inhamed flesh exposed. Should this heal
up of it's own accord, which would be a
very slow process, as the doctors unani-
mously agreed, the tissues would so con-
tract that one of the girls limbs would be
much shorter than the other. Besides
this, there was the absolute certainty
that she would suffer pain continuously.
At this juncture DR.. w. f. Jones re-
solved to try the virtues of grating. He
first tried a graft of about an inch and
half wide and five inches long of rabbit
skin, applying it in the approved meth
growing well, and high hopes were en-
tertained. These lasted only a short
time, however, when it was demonstrated
that it would not answer the purpose.
The doctors so informed the parents of
the suffering girl. The latter Immediate
" offered themselves to the knife to
save their daughter, and as soon as the
matter became known to others of the
immediate family and next closest rela-
tives there was not one who did not make
the sacrifice. and make it willingly, to
benefit the pretty little l2-year-old girl
they loved so well.
From the bodies of the seven persons
who offered themselves for the purpose
the surgeons have stripped pieces of
skin varying from a half to an inch and
half in width and from four to five
inches in length. These living strips,
tingling with nerves, were placed on the
tender flesh of the sufferer and firmly
bound in place with rubber tissue, and
in every instance the CRAFTS have been
successful. All the portions of Miss
Proudfott's body touched by the flames
have been covered over with the skin of
her relatives except one patch on the
right hip. This will be attended to some
| time early in December, and DR.. Jones
stated last night, judging from the pro-
gress made in the other CRAFTS, it will
not be long before Miss Proudfoot is as
well and free-lmbed as ever.
Aside from illustration of the self-sac-
rifice of those related to the young lady,
| the case of Miss Proudfoot will excite
| considerable attention in the medical
world. 1t is one of few cases-if not
the only one-where skin grating has
ever been attempted in the case of burns.
] Then. again, the erea to be covered, not
less than 175 square inches, and the
length of time after the injuries were
received, will act as factors in a case
which will cause any amount of learned
comment. Taken all around, it is Won
derful case, fully as wonderful as any
in the progress of the healing art with
aminer.