Terry Martinelli
Heatherwood Memory Lane

Terry Martinelli Personal Memories

Terry Martinelli Recently Contacted Us:-

I have just come across your web site, and was amazed to see my photo in the Peter Lapper photo archive. I remember Peter quite well, and Frances Fagen and Jimmy Martin, who I was friendly with.

I was a patient at Heatherwood in 1949 for 11 months, with a TB left knee. And I too was operated on by Mr Ahearn, and what a brilliant Dr he was too. but unfortunately he had to take my knee away and I was left with a stiff leg. but it has not deterred me and has been trouble free since the op. I am now 70 yrs old and still fit and well.

Treatment

Dr Ahearne performed the op on my knee in 1949 or 1950. He was a brilliant surgeon, and I would like to learn more about him. I also had 20 injections directly into my knee, which was performed by Dr Ahearn himself Boy.. did they hurt sometimes.!!

Also I was given a medicine ,which was a dark red colour which we only new as PAS. We also had daily doses of PAS. I have tried to find what this was. It had a bad taste that is still in my memory today.

If anyone has information about Dr ahearne or the medicine we were given I would love to know. There was also a male staff nurse, I think his name was Roberts, who used to hold the needle from the syringe, in his thumb and forefinger, and after slapping your leg a couple of times with the side of his hand, would suddenly put the needle in, and we never even felt it. He was magic at giving injections!!

Friends

The ward orderly I remember was Ron Knobbs, who always made us laugh and was a smashing bloke! Our school teacher then was Mr Fenner.

There was also a young eight year old girl in our ward called I think, Edna, who was deaf and dumb, she taught me the alphabet in sign language, which I still remember to this day. There was a boy (I can't remember who..) who kept hitting Edna, and because I was in traction at the time, I could do nothing to help her. A lovely girl, and did not deserve it. I wish I knew what happened to her!

Frances Fagen he hated being in hospital, and 2 or three times decide to walk out to go home, and even climbed a tree once in a bid to hide, and all this with a plaster from his hip to his ankle on one leg, and halfway down the other leg.

Time On My hands

While I was in there, I did a lot of drawing, and after having my photo in the evening news one day for drawing a picture of black bob, I (a dog in the comic book “The Dandy” ) I received a letter from a couple in America asking me to do one of 2 Great Danes , which I duly did, and felt very proud at the time.

Terry Martinelli

Terry is now enjoying retirement and living in North Devon

Comment:-Terry Martinelli shared his memories of his stay in Heatherwood in 1949. We however have now discovered he was in the hospital in 1953 when his name appeared for entries into the Ascot Summer and Autumn shows winning prizes.