The evening world., 1902-12-27
Bellevue Doctors viii Cut Forty
Inches from Her. Limbs to
Take Place of Tissue Lost In
Accident.
1T is HER CHRISTMAS GIFT.
New %EpIdermls VIII suppIant old,
and II VIII Be Weeks Before the
Young Girl VIII Be Able to Be
About.

on a Bellevue Hospital cot. Eva Done
gan. a sixteen-yeAr-old beauty, IL pre-
pairing to undergo the ordeal OF living
forty square inches of her sldn TO be
grated Upon the limbs OF her brother
Jacob. a victim of the Madison Square
fireworks explosion on election night.
Eva's sacrifice is a Christmas present
to her brother.
When the Bellevue physicians decided
that skin grating was necessary for
Jacobs complete recovery. mis- four sis
tiers volunteered to supply the necessary
cutlcle They were Anna, twenty-five;
Ada, twenty; Jennie. eighteen. and Eva,
sixteen. Drs. Burns and Love, after
examining the girls. concluded that Eva
was the youngest and healthiest and
that 1t would be better to take the skin
from her alone.
Was Her Christmas Gift.
Eva was actually envied by her sis
tiers. ~ will have the best Christmas
present to OFFER Jake" she said, when
old OF the doctors decision.
Christmas was Eva's sixteenth birth
day and she was the j%olliest OF the o
sisters when they went to the hospital
to take their holiday offerings TO their
Invalid brother. The elder girls are all
employed and they had expended their
EARNINGS in many pretty tokens for the
sick brother. Each presented her gifts,
and when It came Eva's turn she leaned
over her brothers cot and said, Il VIII
whisper my Christmas present in your
ear"
no. no: YOU must not" he exclaimed
''You shall not sacrifice yourself. Do
not let her." he pleaded, addressing the
other girls. Then they told him that
they too mad volunteered 10 help him.
but the doctors gave Eve the preference
The young man could not hold out
against such a demonstration OF anec-
ton and. while he cried Tor JOY, bva
ran from the ward TO tell Superinten-
dent Richard OF her determination,
You are a brave little girl he said:
Your brother ought to appreciate your
loving sacrifice as the grandest Christ
mas present in the world
Ready for thc Sacrifice.
True TO her promise. Eva appeared at
the hospital to-day ready for her sacri.
nee. The operation may be performed
to-day. The physicians Will first ad-
minister oxygen TO both patients 70
exhilarate the skin. Then they VIII be
DuI ulOeE eLnGIs w AAAlsH 7" A'N'fN.
in width and ten inches In length, Will
be curt from Eva's limbs and applied TO
the long scar in Jacobs left leg. where
= torn ligament was removed after the
fireworks explosion.
When Jacob Donegan was struck by
the fragment OF a shattered bomb one
OF the llgaments In his leg was SO IN
jured that 1t had to be removed. TINS
which was so deep that II would
not zeal. Grating was he only pos
sible way OF closing the wound. and II
was decided at first 70 take the SKIN
body. He became aenemic in the hos
pital, however, and It became necessary
to nave the skin from a healthy young
person.
He VIII BE Lame for Life.
Eva will be able to be about again
within two weeks after the operation,
but Jacob cannot expect to leave his
bed before February. Even then he will
be famed for life, because OF the contrac-
ton In his h5lb caused by the removal
of the Ngament.
Jacob Donegan and his four sisters
were orphaned a year ago. The boy.
who Is twenty-five, became h head OF
the household, and was the protector
and mainstay OF The little family until
he met with his misnap on Election
night. He was a cutter In a
Eva and her eldest sister Anna keep
for the little family n the other
girls are employed in Broadway depart
ment stores
he'd at the hospital reading, She was not
in the lelst apprehenslve,, She is q
hearty-looking girl. blue-eycd
and clear skinned. with a glow OF health
in her checks, - have never 5een IN
doctors say the operation is not dan
gerous. Even II It were wo3ld take
the risk to help my brother. He has
made many sacrifices for us and the
other girls were just a willing 20 help
aim. They took me. I suppose, because
/ weigh the most and am the strongest,
though | am the baby of the family
Brother Ia Most Anxious.
jacob Doneyan Is more anxious than
his sister about the operation. g! hate
to think that Eva will have 20 suffer for
my Elke,'' he said. II objected to her
making the sacrifice but DR.. Love per-
suaded me that II would be for the best.
AS long as 1t a to be done ! would
rather that one OF my own family should
help me in mis- than an outsider, i shall
certainly be grateful to any baby sister
for life"