← Harold's Old Time Radio
Loading summary
Transcript5 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hello, it is Ryan. And we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps. You know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino style games that you can play for free, anytime, anywhere with daily bonuses. So sign up now@chumbacasino.com that's chumbacasino.com sponsored by Chumba Casino.
- [00:26]
B
No purchase necessary. VGW Group void. We're prohibited by law. 18 + terms and conditions apply.
- [00:30]
C
The Rest of the Story it was the 10th day of May, beautiful spring day in Lake City, Florida. But for the very pregnant woman in Lakeshore Hospital, it was a less than happy day. Her pain had begun months before. Her husband, janitor at a local bank, had divorced her. With their baby on the way, the mother, to be very much alone, was some comforted by her gentle Dr. Harry Bates. Slight, bespectacled, balding, meticulous, Dr. Bates had been so reassuring during her troubled pregnancy. Dr. Bates was not a specialist. He was what in 1930 we called a family doctor. A plain, small town doctor doctor. The delivery was on schedule and apparently without complications. And soon a fine big baby boy was announcing himself to the world through the hasty postpartum care. The exhausted and distracted mother didn't notice that Dr. Bates was frowning. How was he going to be able to tell this mother, who had been through so much recent heartache, that her otherwise perfect new son had been born with one foot backward? The right foot of the otherwise healthy baby was reversed, the heel forward, the toes facing backward. And when the perceptive mother sensed the doctor's discomfiture, he had to tell her, my baby has a deformed foot. She burst into tears. Dr. Bates sought as best he could to reassure her. There was a surgical procedure called an osteotomy to correct such malformation. What he knew, but could not bring himself to say was that it required highly specialized orthopedic surgery. And even if this impoverished mother could afford such an operation, there was no such specialist in or near the tiny town of 6,000 people. Now, whatever treatment the boy would receive would be the awesome responsibility of a family doctor of very limited orthopedic experience. But he did it in two short weeks. The gallant, determined family physician educated himself with all that was known in 1930 about infant osteotomy. The tiny pencil sized fibula must be circle cut. Then the tinier tibia bone must be similarly severed and turned twisted, rotated until the foot pointed forward at a normal 15 degrees to the outside. Ever so carefully. In this almost microscopic surgery, the blood supply must not be disturbed while the elastic flesh is brought back into place and the purposely broken, broken leg placed in a splint. But he did it, doctor. Dr. Harry Bates performed the operation perfectly. The boy child would be able to stand unaided. Probably he would never run. But in time, he would walk. And the grateful mother in that shabby soiled white house on Madison street, made up with love for whatever the doctor may have lacked in finesse. The boy's foot grew normally. His leg grew strong, stronger, because the little fellow would stand in the yard kicking a football onto the roof of the house and catching it as it came down. Within a block and a half was the practice football field of Columbia High. It wasn't long before the young lad watching football practice would chase balls that came over the fence and retrieve the stray balls and kick them back over the fence. And one day the boy was a student at that school. And there was a note on the bulletin board said, anybody who'd like to kick, come out early. And when the boy showed up early, imagine the surprise of the local doctor who by then had become the team physician, Dr. Harry Bates. In the years since, Dr. Bates courageously and artfully reversed a baby's wrong way forward right foot. That talented foot has kicked us succession of winning goals for the University of Arkansas. And then for 10 years in professional football with the Cardinals and the giants. He kicked 20 of 29 in 1959 to lead the league that year. And all the while he was earning his way into football's record books. He also established himself as a scholar with a master's degree in history. A teacher of history between seasons. Today there may be no face and no voice in all of television more recognizable all over America. For the mouth formed child of a modest but loving one parent household in Lake City, Florida, grew up to become Pat Summerall. And now you know the rest of the story.
- [04:29]
A
Hello, it is Ryan. And we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino style games that you can play for free, anytime, anywhere with daily bonuses. So sign up now at ChumbaCasino. Com. That's ChumbaCasino.
- [04:54]
B
Com sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group voidware prohibited by law. 18/ Terms and Conditions apply.