A MEMORABLE PATIENT

An African woman weeps

Theresa was waiting for an operation in an African hospital. But as there were so many patients her operation would have to be postponed for another day, or week, or perhaps months. Such postponements are common and the patients quietly wrap their covering sheets around themselves, pick up their medical records, and make their way back to the wards from the waiting area of the operating theatre. Disappointed as most patients are when this happens they are usually hopeful because to have got this far means that they will ultimately get their operation. But Theresa had lost hope and cried in a …