Courage and faith

For most of his time in Glasgow, Ian Donald was beset with the consequences of heart disease. This was the result of rheumatic fever, which had affected him and his sister Margaret. In 1960, Margaret had a mitral valvotomy performed in Glasgow Royal Infirmary and died as a result. Open-heart surgery was at that time a much more risky affair than it is now. Ian Donald was aware of the risks because, while he worked in Hammersmith Hospital, Ian Aird, the Professor of Surgery, had done much to stimulate research in that field. WP Cleland performed the first operation, reported in the British Medical Journal in 1954 as “Assisted circulation by pump oxygenator during operative dilatation of the aortic valve”. The pump oxygenator was devised by DG Melrose, medical cardiologist. Ian Donald later recorded that he was present in a very minor assisting capacity at this operation in 1953 when cardiopulmonary bypass was first used. Both Cleland and Melrose were his friends for many years and appear again in this chapter.

In the Autumn of 1961, when Ian Donald was in New York, he collapsed with atrial fibrillation. This event was associated with overwork, a typical instance of which was a trip to Stranraer in the extreme southwest of Scotland to demonstrate the vacuum extractor. JW had assisted him in this project and was anxious about the Professor's health as we set off about 5 p.m. to drive south.