From the April 2014 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
On June 9, 1887, Horsley performed the first surgery to remove a tumor from the spinal cord. The tumor was small and higher up in the spinal cord than originally stated in the diagnosis. At first, Horsley hesitated to extend the incision, but went ahead at the urging of his assistant. The operation was a success, and the patient, an army officer, was able to walk again.
In addition to his research interests and surgical post at the hospital, Horsley had a thriving private practice. One of Horsley’s patients once said, “I do believe if one of us were to die, and Sir Victor got [to] him within half an hour, he could bring him to life again.”
In 1886, Horsley was appointed to a government commission to study the effectiveness of Louis Pasteur’s rabies vaccine. He confirmed Pasteur’s results and helped to eradicate the disease in England. Horsley also found time to conduct archaeology and anthropology research, delivering lectures on his discoveries in the field at the Royal Institution and the Anthropological Institute.
Although he was in his fifties at the start of World War I, he insisted on active duty. Horsley was serving as a medic with troops in Iraq when he unexpectedly died from heatstroke on July 16, 1916. At the time of his death, Horsley was not only an accomplished and respected surgeon but also a knight after gaining the honor in 1902, for his extraordinary contributions to England.
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