1944, Archibald McIndoe: Healer of bodies and minds

Sir Archibald McIndoe and his 'Guinea Pig Club' patients. (Blond McIndoe Research Foundation)

A man who brought healing in a time of war is our New Zealander of the Year.

Pioneer plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe helped airmen and others who had been gruesomely injured in the war, often by severe burns.

At the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Sussex, he devised new treatments and techniques for treating burns and grafting skin.

But perhaps his most telling innovation was to recognise the importance of the psychological dimension of treating people who had been horribly disfigured.

He insisted the men wear their uniforms rather than the garb of convalescents and he encouraged them to get out into the community to have fun.

The Herald described McIndoe's successes as "miracles of rehabilitation".

"The mixture of skill and keen perception that salvaged so many wrecked lives earned a widespread gratitude and admiration."

McIndoe would later be knighted and his name lives on today in the Blond McIndoe Foundation at Queen Victoria Hospital which researches burns, wound healing and reconstructive surgery.

The foundation is now fundraising to build a statue of McIndoe by prominent British sculptor Martin Jennings, whose father was a patient.

From the Herald archives:
'Statue to honour plastic surgeon', NZ Herald online, 7 January 2013