One Saturday morning in 1954, in Virginia in the USA, a 12-year-old boy wearing oversized

surgical scrubs was sat in the corner of an operating theatre riveted by the scene

unfolding before him.

In those days, as a way to encourage the young into the profession, physicians were allowed

to bring their children into hospital to watch them work.

The boy's father, Dr. Abe Schwartz, was an anesthesiologist and that morning had been tasked

with helping to put a teenage girl to sleep for a routine operation.

His son, Stefan, was given the simple instructions to sit behind him, stay quiet and not touch

anything.

It might seem a strange thing for a 12-year-old boy to do on a Saturday morning, but Stefan

was an unusual boy with an irreligious and analytical mind fostered by his atheistic parents.

All seemed to be going well when all of a sudden the medical staff became gravely concerned

and began to hurry around the girl.

Her heart had stopped.

Stefan stared widely as they quickly pulled off the girl's gown and began steadily administering

CPR.

Despite what we might see on film and TV, Cardio Parmonary Resuscitation is very rarely

successful.

Thankfully, however, this patient was one of the lucky ones.

When things come round, there was no chance of completing the operation and so Stefan's

father accompanied her as she was wheeled off to an adjoining room to recover while

Stefan was instructed to go and change.

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