By: Martin Cole

Martin Cole — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:36:57 +0000

My mother received the Lucite ball treatment in 1956 at Pinewood Hospital, Crowthorne, Berkshire. She was aged 48 at the time. Her hospital stay lasted eight months during which I, her eleven-year-old son, did not set my eyes upon her. Hospital rules were very strict with children completely barred from the premises. I was aged eleven at the time and faced with the challenge of the ‘Eleven Plus’ examination which determined my further schooling. I could have done with Mum’s support during this critical phase of my education but without it I developed a high level of self-reliance which I have been blessed with ever since. Fortunately, success in the examination meant that six weeks before Mum returned home I had already started at grammar school and ultimately the pathway to university. Although her surgery led to occasional back-pain, my Mum experienced generally good health for most of her remaining life. In her 53rd year Mum surprised everyone, herself included, when on holiday in Wales she completed a walk to the summit of Mount Snowdon (or Yr Wyddfa) at 1085m. She eventually died aged 87. Lucite balls had nearly doubled her life. We were an ordinary working-class family with just enough to live on. The long hospital stay and treatment cost us nothing. Readers may understand why I am a passionate believer in the UK National Health Service!

By: Lynne Mayers

Lynne Mayers — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 10:09:25 +0000

My father received lucite balls as filler for his chest cavity c. 1950 at the King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, Sussex. When he coughed or moved awkwardly he would say it was his ‘ping-pong balls rattling’. As children, we thought he was just joking. He remained TB free, although very limited by bronchitis and general shortness of breath, until his death at the age of 60 yrs in 1974. He/we considered these his ‘borrowed’ years, as we were told that he was a guinea-pig for this type of filler.

Comments on: ‘Wilson’s balls’: TB treatment in the 1940s-1950s

By: Martin Cole

By: Lynne Mayers