THINGS THAT MATTER: Dr. Cecil Cyrus – the Odyssey of a Caribbean Surgeon
Dr. Cecil Cyrus, surgeon extraordinaire of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is a legend in his own lifetime. His work has performed near miracles for over forty years, while his presentations at conferences and in his books have enthralled his colleagues, old and young, across the Caribbean and beyond. And he has amazed us with yet another magnificent book, while in his ninth decade but looking not a day over fifty … thanks to a healthy life style and an angel of a wife!
“A Harvest Richer than Gold – The Odyssey of a Caribbean Surgeon” has just been published. It is the fourth major work of Dr. Cyrus, not counting some earlier, smaller booklets. His first magnum opus was A Clinical and Pathological Atlas, a lifetime collection of photographs, with patients’ permission, of pathological specimens, X-rays, patients and medical miscellanea from an astonishing surgical career in a small developing country which took a long time to recognise that health care was key to development. This book received outstanding reviews from the British Medical Journal and the Royal College of Pathologists, and his collection of specimens and artefacts became the Cecil Cyrus Museum, which sadly our University has not found the funds to acquire.
His second book was “Dr. Grandad – A Caribbean doctor and his little patients and family”. This is a heart-warming account of both the children he cared for and cured and the social context of that care. His third book was “A Dream Come True – the Autobiography of a Caribbean Surgeon”. The new book differs from the last in focusing on the patients and patient encounters, rather than the broader life story and challenges of a remarkable life.
And Dr. Cyrus’s life story is truly remarkable - from a small boy of a humble family in a rural St. Vincent village to a life of accomplishment under the most challenging circumstances. When you read his books, and his extraordinary ability to produce near miracles by “making do”, you cannot help but call to mind the life and work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and his missionary hospital in what is now Gabon. And while Dr. Cyrus may not have contributed to the fields of music, philosophy or religion as Dr. Schweizer did, he is very much the Renaissance man, with wide ranging skills and interests and a photographic memory.
In my foreword to this splendid book I wrote: “There is no one in the world like the unique and indefatigable Cecil Cyrus, surgeon extraordinaire of St. Vincent. He has been described as ‘The small island surgeon’, the ‘isolated surgeon’ and ‘Caribbean country doctor’. And he has enthralled listeners, entertained friends and fascinated audiences at home and abroad almost as much as he has saved lives, worked miracles and supplied the milk of human kindness in the care of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines … It is a life story that intrigues and carries you along, willingly, for the ride.”
And in my citation for his Honorary D.Sc. of the University of the West Indies in 2005, I said: “This incredible surgeon and sportsman is truly a Renaissance man, and he brings similar skills of love and a tender touch to his own Botanic Garden. Rumour has it that he talks to his plants, and gives them an anaesthetic when he has to cut and prune them”!
The book is not a “quick read” because it comprises some 400 pages. There are 32 chapters in all, and more than a hundred photographs. He writes on themes such as “Making do”, “Home remedies”, “The Day I died”, “The incredible” and “Near miracles”, “The healing power of nature”, “Choice descriptions of symptoms”, “Exotica”, “Motherhood” and “Intangible rewards”. I’ve read a couple of chapters every night for the past fortnight. He writes in an easy, elegant style that is as comfortable to read as a letter from a friend - filled with insight, compassion and often a touch of humour. The language is excellent, standard English, definitely influenced strongly by his intimate knowledge of the classics, redolent with both Shakespearean quotes, modern Caribbean, local dialect and ‘Cyrusisms’ with their own unique flavour.
The book will be most appreciated, obviously, by doctors and other health care professionals, but many chapters are perfectly comprehended with their “easy” style by lay people, and chapters such as ‘Home remedies’ and ‘Motherhood’ are of general interest. The latter is reminiscent of the great essayist Lewis Thomas. Here is his slightly cynical but insightful analysis of the human condition. “My favourite patients are the very young and the very old. The former know only of living and have not yet learnt to fear, the latter have lived long enough to have the easy courage and steadfast will to live on, and are thus very trusting of their medical guardians. Some of the intervening age groups are disturbing, troublesome, hard to please and downright uncooperative. Naturally, they hunger to live on, and are devastated by any challenge to this desperate hope or prospect.”
I loved one of his final philosophical bits of advice – for the “Isolated practitioner” – but it surely applies to every man: “One of the lessons learnt on survival … was the absolute necessity of a wife on whose shoulder to cry, and a hobby to ensure the preservation of peace of mind and sanity.” Amen, and a bouquet to Kathryn Cyrus!
This is truly a wonderful and most readable book, from an amazing surgeon, collector, photographer, writer, orator, sportsman, horticulturist, humanitarian and philanthropist. It should be an inspiration to every Caribbean doctor, health care professional and medical student as well as to many general readers.
Bouquet: To Dr. Raymond Maughan and friends (Andre Donawa, Franz Phillips and Hugh Walker) whose magnificent photographic art show “Collective” is now on at the Barbados Art Council’s Pelican Gallery on the Harbour Road. There is an almost infinite variety of an amazing collection of high quality fine art photos. Do visit, patronise and purchase from these wonderful artists.
(Professor Fraser is Past Dean of Medical Sciences, UWI and Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology. Website: profhenryfraser.com)