[00:13.77]Norman Bethune: a Canadian Hero in China
[00:18.69]Norman Bethune was born in Gravenhurst,
[00:23.72]Ontario, Canada in 1890.
[00:26.02]His family had a long history
[00:29.52]of human service, a fact
[00:31.49]that undoubtedly shaped his life
[00:33.79]in later years. From the outset,
[00:37.29]as a young university student,
[00:39.70]he developed a mission,
[00:41.88]or goal in life, of compassion
[00:44.62]and commitment to helping
[00:46.48]the less fortunate to find
[00:48.01]freedom from the chains of poverty.
[00:50.86]In earnest, he developed
[00:54.25]a selflessness that dominated
[00:55.67]his whole life, but
[00:57.86]not without personal sacrifice.
[01:00.05]He was in a troubled marriage
[01:03.22]that consequently ended in divorce.
[01:05.73]Progressive medicine and humanitarian
[01:08.80]deeds became the sole
[01:10.99]purposes of his life.
[01:13.17]Understandably, his much younger wife,
[01:16.67]Frances, could not tolerate this situaton.
[01:20.61]From 1911 to 1912, Bethune worked
[01:27.17]as a lumberjack and teacher
[01:29.29]in a remote area of Ontario.
[01:31.58]He taught at“Frontier College”,
[01:34.32]a unique school that provided
[01:36.29]basic education to adult workers
[01:38.47]at the lumber camps.
[01:40.66]During the First World War,
[01:43.40]he became a stretcher bearer
[01:45.15](helping to carry the wounded
[01:47.56]from the battlefields).
[01:49.64]He, himself, was wounded
[01:51.60]by shrapnel(fragments of exploding shells).
[01:54.89]He was confined, as a patient,
[01:58.72]to hospitals for months,
[02:01.01]receiving therapy and recuperating
[02:03.64]from his injuries.
[02:05.50]After the war, he completed
[02:09.11]his internship at the hospital
[02:11.30]for sick children in London,
[02:13.37]England, leading to a certificate
[02:15.56]as“A Fellow of the Royal
[02:18.08]College of Surgeons”.
[02:19.72]Later,in the United States,
[02:23.55]Bethune came in contact with
[02:26.18]poverty and deprivation, but
[02:28.36]his skills as a doctor
[02:30.22]also attracted wealthy patients
[02:32.85]who were willing to pay for
[02:35.04]services usually denied to the poor.
[02:38.43]He began to appreciate
[02:41.05]how money was corrupting
[02:42.48]the medical system.
[02:44.77]He developed an acute concern
[02:47.07]for the unattended medical needs
[02:50.13]and suffering among the poor.
[02:52.55]His mission was to relieve,
[02:54.95]as much as he could,
[02:57.03]the plight of the less fortunate.
[02:59.43]He was appalled at
[03:01.52]the indifference shown by governments
[03:03.92]to these conditions.
[03:05.67]It was at this time that
[03:07.86]his own health suffered a setback.
[03:10.48]He had developed tuberculosis
[03:13.22]of the left lung and
[03:15.08]had to undergo a successful
[03:17.16]but dangerous operation.This episode
[03:21.54]with his health had
[03:23.40]a tremendous impact on his life.
[03:25.91]It stimulated an interest
[03:28.21]in thoracic medicine, especially
[03:30.18]the surgical aspects in this field
[03:33.35]and for a couple of years
[03:35.76]he worked at a tuberculosis hospital
[03:37.94]in the United States.
[03:40.68]Following this interval
[03:42.65]in the United States, in 1929,
[03:45.16]he began to specialize in
[03:48.01]thoracic medicine at the
[03:49.76]Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
[03:52.72]He also began to write
[03:55.78]in medical journals, outlining
[03:57.97]new surgical techniques.Later,
[04:00.70]he invented, developed and
[04:03.98]refined surgical instruments |