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Among other firsts, the world’s first bypass operation took place at the University of Cape Town. That is to tell you the reputation of the institution.
Yet they awarded a Master of Medicine degree to a surgeon who has never seen the face of school in his life. Who couldn’t read an English word and could not write.
One morning in 2003, world-renowned surgeon, Professor David Dent announced in the university auditorium: “Today we are awarding an honorary degree in medicine to the man who produced the most surgeons in the world. Who is an extraordinary teacher, and an amazing surgeon, and who studied medical science by himself and surprised the human mind.”
With this announcement, the awardee took the name “Hamilton Naki” and the entire auditorium stood and greeted the cross. It was the biggest reception in the history of the university.
Hamilton was born June 26 1926 in Sanitani, a remote village in Cape Town. His parents were shepherds. He wore goat skin, and he walked in the mountains barefoot all day as a child. His father fell ill, so he left the sheep and goats and moved to Cape Town. Construction was underway at the University of Cape Town in those days. He joined the university as a laborer.
He would send home as much money as he could get after a hard day’s work and he used to sleep in the open ground by chewing gram himself. He worked as a laborer for many years. Then the construction process ended. He got the job of mowing the tennis court. He arrives at the tennis court every day and starts mowing the lawn. He did this for three years, then came a strange turn in his life.
It was a mild, warm morning. “Professor Robert Joyce, researching giraffes, wanted to see why: “When a giraffe bends its neck to drink water, it doesn’t have a seizure?
They laid a giraffe on the operating table, knocked him unconscious, but as soon as the operation started, the giraffe shook its head. So they needed a strong man to keep the giraffe’s neck tight during the operation.
Professor Robert, came out of the theatre, ‘Hamilton’ was mowing the lawn in front, the professor saw that he was a healthy young man of strong stature. He beckoned him, took him in and ordered him to grab the giraffe’s neck. “Hamilton” did.
The operation lasted eight hours. During this time, the doctor continued to take tea and coffee breaks, however “Hamilton” stood there holding the giraffe’s neck. When the operation was over, he quietly went out and started mowing the lawn again.
The next day the professor called him again, he came and grabbed the giraffe’s neck and stood up, after which it became his routine through the period of that research.
Professor Robert Joyce was impressed by his perseverance and sincerity and “Hamilton” was promoted from mowing the tennis court to “Lab Assistant.” He now started resuming at the operating theatre and helped the surgeons. This process continued for years.
In 1958 came another turning point in his life. This year, cardiac surgeon, Dr. Christian Bernard came to the university and started heart transplant operations. “Hamilton” became his assistant, during these operations. He went from assistant to additional surgeon. Now the doctors operate and after the operation, he was given the task of stitching. He used to do excellent stitches. His fingers were clean and fast. It is said that he stitched fifty people in one day. While working in the operating theatre, he began to understand the human body more than surgeons . So the senior doctors gave him the responsibility of teaching the junior doctors.
He now began teaching surgery techniques to junior doctors in his language. He gradually became the most important figure in the university. He was unfamiliar with the terms of medical science. But he was the best surgeon in the school.
The third turning point in his life came in 1970, when research on the liver began. That year, he identified one such liver artery during surgery, which made liver transplant easier. This astonished the great minds of medical science. Today, when a person has a liver operation in some corner of the world and the patient opens his eyes and see the light, the reward for the successful operation goes directly to “Hamilton Naki”.
“Hamilton” achieved this feat with sincerity and perseverance. He was associated with the University of Cape Town for 50 years. In those 50 years he never took a vacation. He would leave home at three o’clock at night, walk 14 miles to the university, and he would enter the theatre at exactly six o’clock. People used to fix their watches with his time.
He was the first illiterate teacher in medical history. He was the first illiterate surgeon to train 30,000 surgeons in his lifetime. He died in 2005 and was buried at the university and it was then made compulsory for surgeons who pass out from the university after obtaining their degree, to go to his grave, take a picture and then get into practical life.
Abass Latifat
