Full disclosure. The surgeon and author of this touching, beautifully illustrated children’s story is my medical school classmate, a friend, and a collaborator that I worked closely with for more than 30 years. You would think that in retirement Canada’s pioneer liver transplant surgeon would write the definitive textbook on that very complex procedure, but no- he wrote this imaginative children’s book to increase understanding of the need for organ donors instead. Papa ant finds that he cannot climb to the top of the anthill to toboggan with his family because of a failing heart and is told by the ant surgeon that he needs a transplant. After an anxious wait, the relatives of an ant who was killed by a falling branch donate his heart and the ant surgeon in the ant hospital preforms a successful transplant, restoring him to health. The ant family expresses their deep appreciation in a card to the donor’s wife and family, sent anonymously via the surgeon.
This is a simple, short, ingenious story that children will easily understand and enjoy. Due to the philanthropy of another colleague and friend, it is already in more than 4000 Ontario elementary schools, less than a month after it was published.
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Thanks, Bill, Diane, and Cal.
The Passionate Reader 