Life in Her Hands: The Inspiring Story of a Pioneering Female Surgeon

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The 'audience' of shipworkers delighted in telling me that there were rats the size of dogs down in the grain. But time and again, Averil proved herself more than capable of the role which had been her greatest dream since the age of eight.

The old world cultural staples of naughty nurses and bedbaths remained in rude health even once Carry On ran its course. In 1981, a troubled year in which riots flared in London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds, the film of the summer was the – glorious – An American Werewolf in London, with Jenny Agutter as a staff nurse who took her newly lycanthropic patient home to bed. On TV, meanwhile, the hospital ward as open-ended limbo inspired the popular sitcom Only When I Laugh. The set-up was simple – the misadventures of three male patients awaiting surgery at some abstract point in the future, one chippily working class, one timidly suburban, one louchely well-to-do in a silk dressing gown, with no actual illness specified so no-one could recover and no-one could die. They and the NHS would just be there forever, like Britain, a place of warm Lucozade and feeling peaky. From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: One of the reasons I enjoyed writing the book is that it will be a memento for them,” says Mansfield. Reflecting on her remarkable career, she adds, “As surgeons we’re sometimes operating on people who are on the edge of life, and don’t always succeed in saving them, which is the very worst part of the job. But knowing I have helped save thousands of lives – I still receive letters from people who wouldn’t be here without the surgery I performed – is a very special feeling.”Unfortunately, there’s still a feeling that it’s a boys’ game, which is a shame, because it isn’t.”

While she says she experienced little discrimination within her profession, patients would often react with surprise at discovering the gender of ‘Professor Mansfield’. A great read. I am honoured to have worked with such a legend' David Nott'A role model for women' Independent'A wonderful read' Julian Fellowes'Remarkable' Lauren Laverne'Charming' GuardianWe were occasionally expected to travel by ambulance to a serious case and would always have a kit of tools and drugs ready for emergency calls. The furore had enough whiff of scandal for the prime minister to have to disown the idea, publicly announcing “the National Health Service is safe with us.” It was a pivotal moment – one where it became apparent the country’s leader wanted to shutter the NHS at the same time doing so openly became politically impossible. We get to see and hear from Taliban commanders, watch the Taliban teaching children, and see real-life footage of them taking over Kabul. There is also footage from a girls’ school being blown up and Ghafari visiting the victims in the hospital. There’s a lot to see and take in with this documentary and part of me wishes it would have been done maybe over three episodes to fully explore the life that was and now is.The other problem was that this was the era of the mini skirt, and you can imagine what that meant. After a formidable operating career in Liverpool and London, during which she made many enduring friendships, she went on to became the UK's first ever female professor of surgery. Life in Her Hands is the remarkable story of a truly trailblazing woman. I was expected to go down a pole into the ship to administer analgaesia before he could be rescued.