MICHAEL DEBAKEY, RENOWNED SURGEON AND
FRIEND OF MDA, DIES AT AGE 99
TUCSON, Ariz., July 14, 2008 – World-renowned heart surgeon Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, a longtime volunteer leader of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, died on July 11 at age 99 in Houston.
DeBakey, chancellor emeritus and director of the DeBakey Heart Center, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, served on MDA's Board from 1972 to 1991. He had been an MDA vice president from 1991 to the time of his death.
In the 1970s, DeBakey helped MDA develop its program of university-based neuromuscular disease research/clinical centers in the United States and Great Britain, among many other contributions. In a speech to MDA annual meeting in 1973, he said, "Every medical problem we formerly thought was insoluble becomes soluble at some point in our history, and it will become soluble more readily and more quickly if we make a greater effort."
Jerry Lewis, MDA national chairman, said, "I had the honor of knowing Michael DeBakey as a friend, a physician and a mentor to MDA. No one else I've ever met had his combination of brilliance, humanity and unshakable belief that medicine will cure all the diseases that plague us, including neuromuscular diseases. He shared these immense gifts and that thrilling vision with me, with MDA and with the world, and we're all blessed for his larger-than-life contributions."
At the time of his election to MDA's Board in 1972, DeBakey was asked why a cardiologist would assist an organization concerned with neuromuscular diseases. He replied, "Being interested in heart diseases does not exclude you from being concerned with the human race. Indeed, it includes you very much."
Known primarily as a medical inventor and innovator, DeBakey devised many new operations, devices and surgical instruments for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Among his landmark achievements, he developed the first modern techniques for open heart surgery in 1950s and 1960s; performed the first aortocoronary bypass using a leg vein in 1964; and in 1968, led a team of surgeons in a historic multiple transplantation procedure, in which the heart, kidneys and one lung of a single donor were transplanted into four recipients.
DeBakey was also regarded as a medical statesman, helping establish health-care systems throughout the world and serving as medical adviser to heads of state. In 1996, he traveled to Russia to consult on President Boris Yeltsin's heart surgery.
Among the hundreds of prestigious awards DeBakey earned were the Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honors a citizen can receive from the President of the United States and Congress, respectively.
DeBakey is survived by his wife, Katrin; two sons and one daughter; and several grandchildren. Two sons predeceased him.
"Michael DeBakey was a great friend to MDA," said MDA President and CEO Gerald C. Weinberg. "He will be deeply missed."
MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 forms of muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive medical and community services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. The Association's programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors. |
