So, other kids at their schools get to go on trips to malls and museums and places of varying interest.
Each year, Biology Students at St. Chrisopher's get to watch a live open heart surgery for their school trip! AMAZING!
Andrew accompanied about 12 of his kids to the BDF hospital here and watched a real coronary bypass operation from start to finish.
They were within an arms reach of the heart, standing on stools above the patient in Theatre.
He says it is the second most amazing experience he has ever witnessed in his life (the first was the girls being born!)
He and his students (the kids took it in turns at 3/4 at a time to stand in the theatre) watched as they opened/cracked the chest cavity and clamped it, drained all the blood from the patient via a heart and lung machine and then proceeded to sort out the guy's heart which had been working only at 60% capacity and he would have died without this operation. Then, after various bits of him were attached and reattached and whatever else, they watched as the suregeons brought the patient 'back to life' and the heart began pumping by itself again before stitching him up 5 hours later.
A mind blowing experience for all.
Only one of the students fainted, but luckily, away from the patient. Apparently a couple of years ago, a student actually fainted into the open chest.....
Note: The surgeon's advice for all men over 40 - take a child's dose of aspirin every day. This will help prevent heart attacks, and if you are going to have a heart attack, it will severely reduce the risk of it being fatal.
Andrew will be getting onto those as soon as we get to the pharmacist!