Heart surgery televised to live public audience

It was, quite literally, a heart stopping moment and it brought a collective gasp from the audience in the auditorium last night. On the large screen in front of more than 200 people, the chest cavity of a 68-year-old under anesthetic had been opened up and a vigorously pulsating heart was revealed.

The bated-breath moment came when the organ was stopped by surgeons performing Britain's first, public, live, open-heart operation.

Nearly two hours later came another loud sigh and euphoric clapping when the surgeon, Francis Wells, delicately scooped the lifeless heart into his hands and with the help of a fibrillator, it began beating once again. "Here it goes. It is a miraculous thing. We watch this and it is just wonderful," murmured Mr Wells.

The gift of life and the miracle of science, captured in the operation taking place at Papworth Hospital, in Cambridge, had been relayed through a satellite link to the hushed theatre auditorium at the Wellcome Collection in Central London, as part of the venue's "Heart" exhibition.

The procedure to repair the heart valve was watched by children, couples, tourists and old-age pensioners, who wanted to witness the drama and the medical dexterity of live surgery.

When the event was advertised, seats had been booked within hours and only a few faint hearts walked out in the first moments when the chest cavity was opened to reveal the heart, lungs and blood-filled intricacies of the internal body.

For most in the room, the procedure revealed a world rarely glimpsed. From the medical men's point of view, it was an attempt to "demystify" surgery.

Surgical implements were passed round for people to gaze at, while the medical team in the hospital joked and swapped anecdotes about everything from the television hospital drama Holby City to Boris Yeltsin's coronary and the similarity between a pulmonary vein and the "bend in your loo". The satellite link allowed the audience to question the team as they carried out the heart valve's reconstruction.

When someone asked why he had become a surgeon, Mr Wells quipped: "Well, my brother is the family butcher." Not everyone could appreciate his artfulness. While some grimaced and cringed, an Amercian woman turned to her companion and whispered: "It reminds me of what you do to a turkery at Thanksgiving." But many said they felt enriched.

Sheila Ochugboju, a biochemist from south London, had brought her two daughters, Temi, 13, and Ella, 12, to see the procedure after Temi badgered her to come. "We heard about it on Radio 4 and booked immediately. I'm so glad we came. Temi... was really excited about it. Her friend was supposed to come but then her mother said it sounded 'sick and medieval' and Gladiatorial."

The Wellcome Collection was opened last month to provide visitors with insight into the human condition. The Heart exhibition closes on 16 September.

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