Live Surgery highlights
Open-heart operation at Papworth Hospital
On 5 July 2007 over 200 people crowded into Wellcome Collection
to watch the live relay of an open-heart operation from Papworth
Hospital in Cambridge. The audience gasped, gawped and were stunned
into silence as Francis Wells and team performed the delicate
reconstruction of the mitral valve in the heart.
Over two-and-a-half hours the audience watched and listened to
the team at work, asking questions to find out more about the
operation and the impact on the patient. The operation was a
resounding success and the patient could sit up in bed the next
morning and talk to the surgeon about his operation. He was able to
return home on Thursday 12 July. Shown here are some edited
highlights of the night.