Vivien Thomas was born in 1910 in Lake Providence, Louisiana. However, his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where Vivien attended public school. Inspired by his family's doctor to enter the medical profession, Vivien saved his wages from various jobs including working with his father who was a master carpenter and also working in an infirmary. When he graduated high school, Vivien enrolled in the premedical program at Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College. Unfortunately, the stock market crash in October 1929, wiped out Vivien's bank savings and he was forced to withdraw.
Determined to somehow continue, Vivien was hired as a laboratory assistant to Dr. Alfred Blalock at Vanderbilt University, an all white institution. Blalock and his research fellow Dr. Joseph Beard tutored Thomas in complex surgical techniques. However, Thomas was classified as a janitor rather than a surgical assistant or researcher. Thomas became a skilled assistant whose work was so good that when Blalock was offered the post of Chief of Surgery at John Hopkins in 1941, he insisted that Thomas accompany him.
While at Vanderbilt, Blalock and Thomas determined that shock following traumatic crushing injuries required blood transfusions and fluid. Their work was used to save the lives of many World War II soldiers. This discovery was a foreshadowing of the great work that was still to come.
At John Hopkins, pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Helen Taussig approached Blalock about a congenital heart defect known as blue baby syndrome or Tetralogy of Fallot. In a normal heart, the left side of the heart pumps blood to the body, while the right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs to be oxygenated. However, in babies with this defect there is a hole between the left and right chambers that allows some of the blood that should go to the lungs to be oxygenated, to flow back to the left chamber and to the body. Thomas replicated this defect in laboratory dogs and then devised a way to safely repair the damage. Eventually, this procedure was carried out on a desperately ill baby, with Thomas guiding Blalock in the surgery and was a resounding success. Blalock and Taussig received recognition for this procedure, but Thomas, the real genius behind the technique which became known as the Blalock-Taussig shunt, did not.
Thomas was known for his brilliant surgical technique and his ability to suture flawlessly. He was the inspiration and surgical instructor for an entire generation of American surgeons including the renowned heart surgeon, Denton Cooley. But Thomas's abilities were never fully recognized for decades. It wasn't until 1976 that Vivien Thomas was recognized but with an Honorary Doctor of Laws (and not Medicine).
Discussion
Tiny Stitches is a well written and informative picture book that captures the real impact of racism on the lives of black Americans. Vivien Thomas had a dream of being a doctor but his ability to attain his dream was impacted both by the economic fallout of the 1929 Stock Market Crash as well as by systemic racial discrimination. Despite his brilliant surgical skills and his outstanding abilities as a researcher, he was never afforded the opportunity to further his education when he worked at Vanderbilt because the university only accepted white students. His immense contributions to medicine and surgery remained unrecognized for twenty-six years; instead those contributions were attributed to the white surgeons he worked with and who came to be recognized internationally. Yet despite all the obstacles Thomas faced, his life is an example of fortitude, perseverance and resiliency, and he graciously trained other doctors who came to study at John Hopkins. By all estimates, he was a remarkable man.
Hooks fully utilizes the picture book format to present her readers with many interesting details about the life of Vivien Thomas. These details, in easy to read, bold text, accompanied by Colin Bootman's realistic watercolour illustrations, make Thomas's life come alive and help to showcase his remarkable character and skills. Hooks demonstrates how Thomas's early life prepared him for his vocation as a medical researcher. Working with his father, a master carpenter, Thomas developed the skills and the dexterity required to perform delicate surgery and to craft the specialized surgical instruments needed for such operations. The racial discrimination he experienced in society, as when his family struggled to find a place to live in Baltimore, and professionally as when he knew he would have to leave Vanderbilt because he would likely lose his job are simply presented. Tiny Stitches will to think prompt young readers to consider what it would be like to experience this kind of discrimination.
Hooks' subject is well researched, as shown in her Author Sources at the back, where the author references interviews with Thomas's nephew and also a colleague. In Tiny Stitches readers will find an easy-to-understand explanation of the blue baby problem, known as tetralogy of Fallot, and how Thomas pioneered a surgical treatment for this serious defect. Hooks also provides readers with further information about tetralogy of Fallot in a short note at the back and there is also a short note about Vivien Thomas.
Tiny Stitches is highly recommended as a resource for students to studying black history and individuals who have overcome significant obstacles in life to made a difference in the lives of others.
Book Details:
Tiny Stitches The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas by Gwendolyn Hooks
New York: Lee & Low Books Inc. 2016
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