BAY WAR VETERAN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 42, 18 June 1947, Page 5

BAY WAR VETERAN

VISIT TO U.S.A. RARE OPERATION NEEDED Efforts are being made by the Te Puke R.S.A. to raise at least £2OOO in order to send a crippled veteran of World War I, Mr Wallace Dickson, of Papamoa, to St. Louis, U.S.A., for a special operation.

Fees for the operation are £I2OO, states the “Bay of Plenty Times” Te Puke correspondent. Offers of monetary assistance have come from many quarters and the R.S.A. is confident that sufficient funds will be obtained to send Mr Dickson to America and pay the specialist’s fees. For the past fifteen years the case of Mr Dickson has aroused the sympathy of his many friends. As a result of his injuries while in the forces Mr Dickson has been suffering from a slow form of paralysis that has now rendered him helpless.

It was understood that there was no cure and not even a remote possibility of obtaining relief. However, hope has been aroused by reports of marvellous work done by an American doctor with the result that efforts are being made to give Mr Dickson his chance of recovery. The specialist who performs operations on the brain for the relief of paralysis is Dr R. H. Clemm, of St. Louis, U.S.A. According to the report of an Opotiki resident, Mrs Madson, who accompanied a patient to St. Louis recently, Dr. Clemm performs two operations on the brain to ensure a cure. He has had many cases and many successes.

The Te Puke R.S.A. is taking the question up and has succeeded in getting considerable information about Dr. Clemm and his work. With a view to soliciting help from America the association is approaching the returned servicemen’s organisation in the United States. It is understood that there must be no delay as Dr. Clemm prefers to operate during the American winter and the patient should be in St. Louis in October. It is understood that the British Medical Association is aware of Dr. Clemm’s work and is so impressed that it has invited him to demonstrate and lecture in London.