"They do that all the time."
I received a remarkable picture. It was of a tiny
developing human (Samuel), still inside the mother’s womb, but his hand
is reaching out of the womb and grasping the finger of a surgeon. The
growing little human’s hand is fully developed and as the story via the
link below will tell you, the surgeon tested the strength of the grip by
trying (not too hard) to shake Samuel off but Sam would have none of
it.
The sequence of pictures is absolutely riveting and in and of itself
says more than the twisted tale that surrounds the surgeon (Dr. Bruner)
and LIFE magazine (as Michael Clancy tells it). The story that LIFE
magazine would have offered would have been marvellous enough. It
purposed to write a story of medical brilliance and progress and
intended to use a posed photograph of a marvellous operation to help a
little developing human with spina bifida to make that point. They were
going to use the picture of a 24 week-old tiny human but journalist and
photographer Michael Clancy was hired by USA Today to cover the
event involving a 21-week little human. He was astounded when he saw the
uterus, untouched by anyone, shake and then an arm burst through and
then withdraw, until only the hand was showing. At that point the
surgeon offered his finger to Samuel and he grabbed it and held on.
Makes the heart leap! We have no reason to wonder at the skill and
dedication of many in the medical profession—thank God for them! But
doesn’t it take your breath away just to think of the drive for life in
that tiny little human, 21 weeks old? Pay special attention to what the surgical nurse told Clancy when Sam burst through the uterus!
Maybe I should leave it at that and just let you wonder as you look
at the pictures as I did. But maybe it’s important that you get a sense
of how greed and a hunger for acclaim can slither into even moments like
these.
You must read Clancy’s entire account of what happened and see what you think of his account. See
For a lovely "sequel" to it all see also
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.