Amos Radford’s heart op pictures to teach doctors

Jul 4 2009 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

A YOUNGSTER’S heart surgery ordeal will help teach the doctors of tomorrow after they decided to use his photo diary as a teaching tool.

Amos Radford, 10, has battled through numerous operations and has been brought back to life nine times after he was born with complex heart defects.

Now the youngster from Heaton, Newcastle, who even underwent two major open-heart procedures, is set to give something back to the world of medicine.

A photo diary created by Amos during his latest operation at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital is to be used as an teaching aid by doctors at one of the top medical facilities in London.

It was only when mum Mel posted the pictures on a photo-sharing website that London teacher Dr Bob Clarke happened to come across the photo diary.

He stumbled across it on the website Flickr, which allows people to share albums and post comments on pictures.

But he also received a message from Dr Clarke, who is associate director of the educational department at the NHS London Deanery Postgraduate Department of General Practice Education and Training, which works in conjunction with the University of London.

For the medical expert, Amos’s photo diary is the ideal way to teach students about the complexities of treating children without having to crowd their bedside.

The diary records every intimate moment of Amos’ stay at the Freeman – from sleeping and being sedated, to taking medication, and his first attempt to sit up.

“I’ve got used to it, but sometimes when I have an operation I get scared,” said Amos, whose mum is a midwife at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary and dad is a full-time carer for Amos and his brothers and sisters Aggie, 18, Niamh, 13, Niall, 12, and Aoife, four.