LAUSR

Hamilton Bailey was a British Surgeon, a prolific writer and a gifted teacher. He published 15 books, including, "Demonstrations of Physical Signs in Clinical Surgery, two volumes of Emergency Surgery and the Short Practice of Surgery (Bailey and Love). They were illustrated profusely with help of his wife Veta, went to multiple editions, multiple languages and are still in print today! He had a tall, striking physique, a shy personality (mistaken for domineering) and no social skills. He never could secure a teaching position in a London Medical School. The tragic death of his son in an accident in 1943 forced him to bury himself in hectic schedule of operating and re-editing his books. With a family history of psychiatric illness, his mental status deteriorated and he was "incarcerated" in a mental institution for three years. On the cusp of a pre-frontal lobotomy, he recovered with Lithium treatment well enough to settle down in Spain and continue his books. His death in 1961 of colon obstruction was a result of his own difficult behavior as a patient and his denial of a decompressive colostomy, contrary to his own teachings. His legacy lives on in a trust he and his wife Veta set up to support medical education in third world countries.