Wilfred Bigelow Dies

Dr. Wilfred Gordon (Bill) Bigelow died March 27th, 2005 at age 91 years.  Bill was an outstanding clinician, clinical teacher, and administrator whose career was driven by intellectual curiosity.  As a surgical resident, he was fascinated by the patho-physiology of frostbite and appalled by the paucity of knowledge about the effects of hypothermia.  His intellectual curiosity led him to study the metabolic and micro-circulatory effects of hypothermia (1, 2).

To overcome the respiratory and cardiac suppression induced by hypothermia, he developed electrical stimulators to support both respiration and cardiac rate leading to the development of the cardiac pacemaker (3).

Bill Bigelow graduated from Medical School at the University of Toronto in 1938 and entered surgical residency under the direction of Professor W.E. Gallie.  With the outbreak of the Second World War, Dr. Bigelow entered the Royal Canadian Medical Army Corps as a captain and spent four years in Europe, including front line triage surgery.  Upon returning to surgical training in 1945, Dr. Gallie arranged for him to spend one year studying in Baltimore with Dr. Alfred Blalock.  This became a watershed year in Bill’s life as he became friends with many of the future leaders in American surgery and was entranced with the value of a surgical research laboratory.

He was appointed to the Faculty of the University of Toronto in 1947 as a General Surgeon.  Dr. Bigelow’s interest focused on the developing specialties of vascular and cardiac surgery in the early 1950’s and his active participation in the surgical research laboratories of the Banting Institute supported his growing interest in cardiovascular patho-physiology.  He founded new service,‘the cardiovascular surgery service’ in 1960 and became the first chief of cardiovascular surgery at the Toronto General Hospital and the University of Toronto, a position he filled with distinction until his retirement at age 64.

Among his many honors and awards are the Centennial Medal of Canada in 1967, the Queen’s Medal in 1977, and Officer of the Order of Canada in 1981.  He considered that one of his greatest achievements was his selection to serve as the President of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in 1974.  His presidential address ‘A time for insight and reflection’ remains pertinent today(4).

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons elected Dr. Bigelow to Honorary Membership in 1993, only the eighth person given that prestigious award.  His acceptance speech at age 80 years is a model of grace, humor and demonstrates his lifelong commitment to intellectual curiosity (5).

In addition to his scientific papers, Bill Bigelow has published three delightful books.  One provides some insight into his passion for the outdoors and the environment (“Furs, Fins and Feathers”).  He was a major advocate of the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Audubon Society in which organizations he served as Director.  To his extensive family of Ruth and their four children, as well as many grandchildren, Bill was a model of loyalty the power of positive thinking and perseverance.

Among his many accomplishments during his career, the facet that pleased him the most was his association with more than seventy residents and fellows that he trained.  He delighted in their achievements and followed their careers with great interest.  To all of us who benefited from his enormous intellect, caring demeanor and intellectual curiosity, we celebrate the life of ‘Uncle Bill’ as he was affectionately known; a life well lived.

F. Griffith Pearson                                                      William Williams                      
Ronald Baird                                                              Bernard Goldman

A Time for Insight and Reflection by Wilfred G. Bigelow, MD

Publication: JOURNAL OF THORACIC AND CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERY, V70:193-202, Bigelow: “Presidential address:  A time for…” © 1975 Elsevier Inc.

Case for Caring... By Wilfred G.Bigelow, MD
Reprinted from The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Volume 55, Bigelow WG, "A case for caring - a message from the new honorary member"; 1065-6, Copyright (1993) , with permission from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

References

1. Bigelow WG, Lindsay WK, et al.  Oxygen transport and utilization in dogs at low body temperatures.  Am J Physiol 1950;160:125-37.
2. Heimbecker RO, Bigelow WG.  Intravascular agglutination of erythrocytes (sludged blood) and traumatic shock.  Surgery 1950;28:461-73.
3. Bigelow WG, Callaghan JC, Hopps JA.  General hypothermia for experimental intracardiac surgery; the use of electrophrenic respirations, an artificial pacemaker for cardiac standstill and radio-frequency rewarming in general hypothermia.  Ann Surg 1950;132:531-9.
4. Bigelow WG.  Presidential address: A time for insight and reflection.  J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1975;70:193-202.
5. Bigelow WG.  A case for caring – a message from the new honorary member.  Ann Thorac Surg 1993;55:1065-6.