Hannah4181 260 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Pretty amazing this. (click the picture) A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year,"... or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the U.S. paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it. The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb. During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile. The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope." The text explaining the picture begins, "The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life." Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said, "The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person" Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mackay 3,706 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 The advancement in modern medicine is a thing we all now might take for granted, people (thanks to new technologies) are surviving illness and injury nowadays that would never have seemed possible' On another note and not intending to hijack your thread, but if there was ever an arguement for reducing the cut off for terminations in pregnancy, then that photo alone should suffice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 11,488 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 A very moving picture indeed Hannah,my eldest lad who's 18 now was found to have a thing called duplex kidneys(they didn't form propely)and as it goes when discovered he was the first ever child they discovered this on before he was born,they found on during a routine scan.Anyway when the pregnacy was 8 months old the hospital asked if they could opperate on him due to at some point he had to loose 1/2 a kidney(the bit that didn't form propely) and they wanted to give it a go due to it never being done before.We asked if it was life and death that he needed it before he was born and to our releaf it wasn't so we waited and he had the op at 2 weeks old.Now i so respected them for asking and how brave would the surgery team be to give it a go :notworthy: and seeing your pic brought it back home to me the amazing job those folks do and when at a year old and after a few more ops he was given the all clear i'm far from amshamed to say i wept like a child with relief and hugged the surgon till he nearly popped. Edit to add another huge thanks to the folks at, Bristol childrens hospital and Birmingham childrens hospital :notworthy: ,forever in your deb't.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnny boy68 11,726 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 :notworthy: :notworthy: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest thebigdog Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 christ what a picture, amazin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lab 10,979 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Amazing, just amazing... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waz 4,293 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Amazing, just amazing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
christian71 3,187 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 WOW 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
just jack 998 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hannah4181 260 Posted January 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Who'd have thought a bunch of big tough hunters like yourselves would be so moved! Only wish i'd taken it . . . . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moll. 1,793 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 The guy who took it retired from photography after the surgeon who performed the operation said it was an urban myth. Something about the anaesthetic, the baby would have been unable to move? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 11,488 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 It'd be a lier or a complete numpty to not think that pic ain't a special moment in any walk of life Hannah and certainly one of the most moving pics i've ever seen. In defence of the photographer Moll,when they wanted to operate on my lad before he was born they were going to use a local aneasthetic on his mother as it is dangerous for the unborn child to use a general,also most cisarians are carried out using a local so imo a general aneasthetic would not have been used in this case. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
judge2010 196 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 amazing just amazing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hannah4181 260 Posted January 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 The guy who took it retired from photography after the surgeon who performed the operation said it was an urban myth. Something about the anaesthetic, the baby would have been unable to move? And there is the beauty of photography. Urban myth or not, that one photo alone has evoked more emotion and feeling from a massive audience than any other image has in recent years. The last being i suspect the famous Pulitzer prize winner by Kevin Cater in 1994 during the Sudan Famine. In being able to capture an image and allow it to be as powerful as these two are, in my opinion makes you a Photography "Great" . .. incidentley Carter was attacked from all angles for that shot, the ethics of capturing such an image being questioned, get the shot or help the child. He committed suicide soon after being awarded the prize. Regardless of its authenticity the image has achieved more than most would could ever dream to achieve in a lifetimes photography. :notworthy: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest stewie Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Surgeon Joseph Bruner: "Depending on your political point of view, this is either Samuel Armas reaching out of the uterus and touching the finger of a fellow human, or it's me pulling his hand out of the uterus ... which is what I did." (Quoted in The Tennessean, Jan. 9, 2000) :whistling: sorry hannah but its anti-abortion propaganda, been around for years now :thumbs: edited to add im not knocking the surgeons by the way there truly amazing people :notworthy: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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