THE BLOND McINDOE AWARD FOR OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

On Thursday, the 27th of September, I was part of a strong team of surgeon scientists from the University of Manchester attending the Blond McIndoe award for overcoming adversity. Led by Prof. McGrouther and Terenghi, we were received by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and hosted by Peter Blond, Chairman of the Blond McIndoe Research Foundation.
The award was presented by the President of the Royal College of Surgeons, in honour of Dame Simone Prendergast, Member of the Court of Patrons - Royal College of Surgeons, to one of the few surviving members of the Guinea Pig Club.
The Guinea Pig Club represents all those pilots who benefitted from the care and treatment of Archibald McIndoe at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, during the Second World War. These patients were pioneers for many of the reconstructive surgery techniques in use today.

The Guinea Pig Club Anthem (sung to the tune of 'The Church's one Foundation)

 We are McIndoe's army
 We are his Guinea Pigs
With dermatomes and pedicles
Glass eyes, false teetch and wigs
And when we get our discharge
We'll shout with all our might:
'Per ardua ad astra'
We'd rather drink than fight

John Hunter runs the gas works
Ross Tilley wields the knife
And if they are not careful
They'll have your flaming life
So, Guinea Pigs, stand ready

For all your surgeon's calls:
And if their hands aren't steady
They'll whip off both your balls

We've had some Australians
Some French, some Czechs, some Poles
We've even had some Yankees
God bless their precious souls
While as for the Canadians
Ah, that's a different thing
They couldn't stand our accent
And built a separate wing