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Ground-Breaking Awake Surgery Before Isle Of Wight Man's Tragic Death

An Isle of Wight man has become the first person to undergo surgery while awake at the Island's hospital.

Yarmouth's Richard Harding, who sadly died on Christmas Day following a battle with cancer, underwent a successful awake complex shoulder operation at St Mary's Hospital at the end of 2021.

During a routine CT scan it was discovered that the 79-year-old, who at the time was being treated for cancer, had fractured his upper arm and without surgery his mobility and quality of life would have been significantly impacted.

Due to Richard’s underlying health conditions, surgery under a general anaesthetic was not an option as it would have posed a serious risk to his health.

Transfer to a mainland hospital for surgery was also not feasible.

Anaesthetist Dr Maciej Kaminski said:

“We knew that Richard’s quality of life depended on this surgery going ahead and without it he would have been reliant on a wheelchair and fully dependant on carers for the rest of his life."

Despite the complexity of Richard’s circumstances, anaesthetist Dr Maciej Kaminski and surgeon Mr Daniel Gheorghiu worked together with Richard and collectively agreed to go ahead with the only option that would mean Richard would be anaesthetised using a combined nerve block and be awake during his surgery.


Maciej Kaminski

Dr Maciej Kaminski, who has worked for the Trust for 18 months, specialises in regional anaesthesia techniques which block the pain transmission in nerves.

Also known as ‘nerve blocks’, these techniques allow patients to be pain-free during the operation without the need for a general anaesthetic.

Patients may be fully awake or receive sedation - medication that will help them feel more relaxed and/or more sleepy during a procedure. Especially in limb surgery it can be the sole anaesthetic or be used as an adjunct pain relief.


Daniel Gheorghiu

Richard, who was a full time priest in Devon before retiring on the Island 10 years ago, died on Christmas Day after suffering with cancer.

Speaking to his family, his wife and daughter praised the outcome of the surgery that Richard had as it enabled him to retain some independence and quality of life.

“He felt nothing during the procedure, he was amazed at how quickly his arm healed and how he was able to regain the use of his arm.

“He didn’t feel worried about being awake and there wasn’t really a question in his mind whether the surgery should go ahead or not.

"Without the surgery our father would have been in considerable pain and discomfort. By having the operation it gave him back an improved quality of life which was really important in his last few months."

Going forward our teams are looking to explore using this method with more patients due to the benefits it brings.

Mr Daniel Gheorghiu, said: 

“The ability to offer wide awake upper limb surgery at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight is a fantastic positive development.

"We are currently exploring ways which could allow us to offer wide awake upper limb surgery routinely to all patients in the future.”

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