KinSource - Tale of the Week - Girl Defies Fatal Disease

KinSource

Minnesota Tales

The Minneapolis Tribune, March 26, 1902, p. 6

GIRL DEFIES FATAL DISEASE.

Loretta Gallery Wins in a Race With the Dreaded Lockjaw.

HER DEATH EXPECTED.

The Recovery Is Attributed to the Use of Tetanus Anti-Toxin.

Loretta Gallery, thirteen years old, is recovering from lockjaw at St. Mary's hospital.

This announcement was made by the hospital authorities yesterday. Lockjaw is usually a fatal disease. The physicians ha- been very careful not to be too early with a statement of the girl's recovery, but for the past few days they have been very sanguine.

Yesterday, it was concluded that the announcement might be made.

If the girl lives it will be the first case of survival of lockjaw that has come to the attention of physicians of the two cities.

The girl's home is at Bird Island, Minn. She was brought to Minneapolis three weeks ago by her parents to undergo an operation for the removal of a tumor.

The operation was apparently performed with success. The wound healed and the stitches were removed, but signs of tetanus developed and, within ten days, the girl's death was expected at almost any minute. The jaws were locked and there was every reason to believe that death was imminent. Tetanus anti-toxin was used and it is to this new medicine that the girl's possible recovery is ascribed.

The anti-toxin seems to break the grip of the disease. The jaws relaxed, the nerves became quiet and the muscles lost their rigidity.

Yesterday, the girl was able to eat.

Her parents are in the city at present and they feel that it is by a special dispensation of Providence that their little girl is recovering.