Doctor in dramatic South Pole rescue dies

[question everything]

Source: LAT

BOSTON -- Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald, who diagnosed and treated her own breast cancer before a dramatic rescue from the South Pole, has died, her husband said today. She was 57. Her husband, Thomas FitzGerald, said she died Tuesday at their home in Southwick, Mass. Her cancer had been in remission until it returned in August 2005, he said.

She was the only doctor at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in winter 1999 when she discovered a lump in her breast. Extreme cold didn't permit a rescue, so with guidance from U.S. based doctors via the Internet, she performed a biopsy on herself with the help of staff. She treated herself with anti-cancer drugs delivered during a mid-July airdrop by a U.S. Air Force plane in blackout, freezing conditions, until she could be rescued by the Air National Guard in October. She documented her ordeal in the best-selling book "Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole." It was made into a TV movie.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-jerri-nielsen-fitzgerald25-2009jun25,0,4058739.story

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R.I.P Dr. FitzGerlad. You provided a model of extreme courage.

[rvablue]

1. R.I.P. I remember this story well. n/t

[question everything]

2. Oh wonderful

this story does not belong on LBN, but duplicates and triplicates of other stories are doing just fine.

[vadawg]

3. i remember this too, swift journey.

[ColbertWatcher]

4. Antarctica doesn't care much for American women ...

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-jackie-ronne23-2009jun23,0,1853509.story