Genes, Blood, and Courage: A Boy Called Immortal Sword

By David Nathan

David Nathan was stunned when he first saw Dayem Saif at Children's Hospital in Boston in September 1968. Dayem was then a six-year-old with the stature of an average-sized boy of two. He wore baby shoes on his tiny feet and was unable to walk without holding his mother's hand. His colour was dark yet pasty and his face horribly misshapen. The child was being ravaged by thalassemia, a life-threatening inherited disease of the blood, and one of the leading causes of disfigurement, disability and death in children worldwide. Without effective treatment, Dayem would almost cetainly die before his 20th birthday.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674344731
• ISBN13: 9780674344730
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

outstanding

Although when I bought the book, I expected more of a focus on the boy of the title "Immortal Sword", I found it was much more than a description of a child's struggle with thalassemia. While Immortal Sword served as the focal point for the book, this was really an account by the author (the physician who treated the boy) of his developing interest in understanding thalasemmia and the search for more effective treatments. The author is a gifted writer able to explain complicated medical concepts in a concise and simple way to a lay audience. One can also sense his dedication to his patients (he even plans a surprise birthday party for Immortal Sword-- how many doctor's become close enough to their patient's to do that?). Although thalasemmia is not a commonly discussed disease like sickle cell, it can be devastating and does affect certain ethnic groups--particularly mediterranean in origin-- more than others. Overall, a very interesting book from the humanistic standpoint of understanding this disorder's impact on the lives of the sufferer as well as tracing the medical development in the understanding of the disorder and its treatment.