Williamstown - Williamstown resident Dr. Wayne Wilkins '41 will lead a discussion on the film “Something the Lord Made,†as part of the Medicine and the Movies Series at Williams College on Tuesday, Nov. 8, in Griffin Hall, room 6 at 7:30 p.m.
The film documents the development of the first operative procedure on a congenital heart abnormality and tells the legendary story of two men - a determined white surgeon, Alfred Blalock, and a talented black carpenter turned lab technician, Vivien Thomas – who defied racial restrictions and pioneered the medical field of heart surgery at John Hopkins Hospital in 1944. The duo’s patients are known as “blue babies†–infants who suffer from a congenital heart defect that turns them blue as they slowly suffocate.
J. Alex Haller, professor emeritus of pediatric surgery at the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins, who trained under Blalock and Thomas in the 1950s, was a primary consultant on the film. “A touching moment for me came when they operated on the first blue baby," he said. "As they operated and new blood began to flow into the infant’s heart, they took off the sheets and you saw the child’s color change from blue to pink - a miracle."
Directed by Emmy winner Joseph Argent, the HBO film stars Alan Rickman (Blalock), Mos Def (Thomas) and Mary Stuart Masterson (Helen Taussing) along with Kyra Sedwick, Gabrielle Union and Charles S. Dutton.
After the film, Dr. Wilkins will conduct a discussion about the key doctors and the history and the science of heart surgery.
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WMMGA to Host Gardening Half Day in Lenox
LENOX, Mass. — The WMMGA will host a gardening half day on April 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.
The event will feature eight workshops covering the following topics:
Ticks
Hydrangeas
Summer bulbs
Pollinator gardens
Good garden tools
Plant propagation
Heirloom tomatoes
Container gardening
The event will also include vendors, free refreshments, a sale table with puzzles, houseplants, and gently used garden books, and a garden-themed raffle.
Registration can be completed at wmmga.org. Class size is limited.
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