Synopsis

Crippled children, blue and breathless with congenital heart disease, were sent home to die. Operating on the inside of the heart was considered impossible.

Further Information

More clips from The Courage to Fail

1: Nerves of Steel | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 48'04''

1830 - a smoke-filled room, crowded with spectators. Their eyes are fixed on a man, restrained on a wooden table, with a leg ravaged...

3: Doers Not Thinkers | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 47'21''

By the early 1970s, surgeons were riding the crest of a wave. But controversy and uncertainty surrounded one of the commonest ope...

4: A Gift of Life | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 51'20''

Richard Herrick, a young man dying of kidney disease, is about to make medical history. Surgeons will save his life by transplanting ...

5: End of an Era | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 48'59''

Christiaan Barnard became the most famous surgeon in the world by successfully transplanting a human heart. Yet so disastrous were the...