heart surgeons

Dr. Roberto Canessa was part of the group that survived the October 13, 1972 crash in the Andes Mountains of the Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying members of the Old Christians rugby team. At the time he was a second-year medical student. He, along with Fernando Parrado, went for help when they realized they were not going to be rescued. They hiked across the Andes Mountains for ten days at an altitude of 16,404 feet and temperatures of twenty-two degrees below zero, and arrived in Chili where they found salvation. Together they guided a rescue party back to their founrteen friends who were still trapped on the mountain two months after the initial search for the crash had been called off. Dr. Caness went on to become a pediatric cardiologist, world-renowned for his work with newborn patients and prenatal echocardiography at the Hospital Italiano of Montevideo.

Heart surgeon Denton A. Cooley describes his childhood in Houston, education at the University of Texas, and career performing heart transplants.

Three brilliant individuals from different backgrounds (a white male surgeon, white female physician, and African American male laboratory technician) combined their unique skills to revolutionize pediatric heart treatment in 1944. The success of the first "blue baby operation" catapulted these trailblazers to fame as pioneers in cardiac surgery. This volume takes readers along as three great minds labor, clash, and cooperate to save children's lives.