Evening star., 1944-07-25
Former D. {. Doctor
Helps in Battlefront
Heart Operation
BY L. S. B. SHAPIRO,

WITH THE CANADIAN FORCES
IN THE CAEN AREA.-Surgery is
traditional with the Hillsman family
of Virginia. For five generations
the Hillsmans have been surgeons
in Richmond, but the long family
saga probably contains no more
thrilling an incident than took place |
on wild night recently when Mai.
John Hillsman. serving with a Ca
madam field surgery unit. held a
mans heart in his hand and
stitched it's wound while the tent |
in which he operated was convulsed
by. the blast of our big guns sup
porting the battle below Caen.
1t was II o'clock at night when
an ambulance rolled into the wheat
field in which was pitched the tents
of this most forward Canadian
casualty clearing station. Carefully
and slowly, so as not to disturb a
muscle of the inert patient, four or
derlies bore stretcher into the re-
ception tent. A medical officer cut
away the soldiers blood stained
tunic and found his chest lacerated |
by mortar fragments. Two wounds
were on the right side, ugly but not
serious, but on the left side a tiny |
piece of shrapnel had penetrated !
between the mans ribs and into his
heart. The patient was conscious
now, and gasping for breath.
ID. c. Man Assists,
They wheeled him into Mai. Hills
mans operating room" a flimsy
tent "a feet by II, and while the
Major was completing an abdominal
operation, Capt. Karl Kraft ad-
ministered an anesthetic to the
new patient. Still lying on the
stretcher which bore him from the |
battlefield, the soldier was placed |
on the operating table under the
arc of five powerful lights.
Maj. Hillsman looked at the
wound, and then summoned his
senior assistants, Capt. Ross Jung
of Washington, D. c.. and Capt. !
Norman Merkeley of Winnipeg. The
right ventricle of the heart was
punctured There would be much
bleeding and many haemostats |,
would have to be clamped on quick
y.
The three doctors huddled over
the patient as Maj. Hillsman cut /
trap inches by inches In
the soldiers chest. lifted open a
wedge of flesh and muscle and
reached inside for the wildly beating
heart.
1t was tricky business. The
ground trembled to the thump of
nearby cannon, but slowly Maj. |
Hillsman's sensitive fingers brought
the heart into the light of the arc
and the miracle why the soldier
still lived was revealed. BY freak
of circumstance the leakage from
the heart wound flowed out of the
perlcardial sac into the lung sac, !
thus relieving pressure which would
long since have smothered the
heart beat.
Completed in As Minutes.
The wound on the heart was one
third of an inch wide. Maj. Hills
man did not stop to probe for the
mortar fragment, but closed the |
wound with three silk stitches, re-
placed the heart beneath the SOL
dier's ribs and stitched the incision.
In As minutes the operation was
completed.
Later I saw the patient. He smiled
wanly as he said, I'm feeling all
right. 1t takes more than Jerry's !
got to make me quit
Outside. a medical officer said the !
soldier would be as good as new in
month or two.
Maj. Hillsman, who is 43 years
old, was graduated from medical
college at the University of Virginia,
and taught at Yale and the Uni /
versity of Manitoba Medical School, |
He came overseas with the Canadians /.
in l943. A brother. Capt Robert !
Hillsman, is serving with an Ameri- |.
can surgical unit in England. |
Capt Jung. 81, whose wife lives
at ll25 Maryland avenue NE, was
on the staff of Casualty Hospital for
five years before he enlisted in the
Canadian Army in February, 1912 /
He met his wife. the former Roberta
Orange, native of Washington, |
when she was nurse at Casualty |
Mrs. Jung is now day supervisor
there.
Capt, Jung, who is Chinese, was
born in British Columbia, and later !
became an American citizen. He is
graduate of the University of
Toronto. He has been overseas since
November, 1912.
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