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Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams didn't invent anything. He was the first to perform open heart surgery.
Daniel was born on January 18, 1856 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. His family moved around a lot. His father died shortly after moving to Annapolis from tuberculosis. Daniel apprenticed as a shoemaker in Baltimore. He then ran away to be with his mother in Rockford, Illinois. Afterwards he moved to Edgerton, WI where he opened a barber shop with his sister.
He moved to Janesville and began to apprentice to be a physician. He graduated from Northwestern University Medical School and opened his own medical office. When he gained a good reputatoin and was asked to be a surgeon at South Side Dispensary.
One day a young black man was stabbed in the chest in a bar fight and was in need of heart surgery. Dr. Williams chose to operate even though the chance of the man living was very slim. It turns out that the surgery was a success, the man walked out of the hospital fifty one days later fully recovered. Another amazing feat was that Dr. Williams was the first person to open the chest wall without killing the patient of infection
Nowadays, this procedure is used often, every single day lives are being saved from heart surgeries and it ias all thakns to a man who had the courage and knowhow to perform an unheard of procedure. If not for Daniel Hale Williams, we would be losing many more loved ones. Medicine has advanced so open heart surgery has advanced also, but Dr. Williams procedures are the standards for heart surgery today.
