HEALTH CORNER
From Whiskey Anesthesia to a 3D-Printed Heart :
125 Years of Norton Children ’ s Hospital on Display at the Frazier
COURTESY PHOTOS
Brace yourself . The following is a bit , um , tough to stomach : “ With anesthesia not yet available in 1892 , 5-year-old Radford Duff was given a shot of whiskey and salt-packed ice to numb his hip before surgery 125 years ago at Norton Children ’ s Hospital in Louisville ,” reads a press release from the hospital and Frazier History Museum .
But here ’ s the good news : “ Primitive conditions to be sure , but the operation at the first children ’ s hospital in the south was a big success . Little Radford was healed .”
Miraculous stories like Radford ’ s are now on display at the Frazier ’ s “ Hope and Healing : Celebrating 125 Years of Norton Children ’ s Hospital ” exhibit and will remain so through Feb . 4 , 2018 .
The exhibit explores how a devastating tornado in 1890 – which left nearly 300 dead or injured – created calls for a children ’ s hospital in the region . Civic leader Mary Lafon and her sewing circle raised $ 6,000 to buy a Victorian house on Chestnut Street , which opened as the hospital two years later . Today , Norton Children ’ s is a 300-bed hospital that treats more than 170,000 children every year .
Over the past 125 years , the hospital has served the region during many historic moments , including the Great Depression , Great Flood of 1937 , World War II , the polio epidemic , desegregation and the deadliest drunk driving crash in U . S . history . The hospital also was the second in the nation to perform a pediatric heart transplant .
The exhibit also allows guests to experience what it ’ s like to be a patient on an ambulance ride , explore a 3-D heart designed specifically for a local 14-month-old boy , see locally developed medical equipment now being used around the world and encounter tiny diapers designed for premature babies born smaller than the size of a soft-drink can .
The Frazier History Museum is located at 829 W . Main St . in Louisville and is open 9 a . m . to 5 p . m . Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p . m . Sunday . For more information , call 502.753.5663 or visit fraziermuseum . org .
To learn more about Norton Children ’ s hospital , go to nortonchildrens . com or call 502.629 . KIDS ( 5437 ).
16 EXTOL SPORTS / NOVEMBER 2017