Wilfred Bigelow

Wilfred Bigelow was born on June 18, 1913 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, the son of a physician and a nurse. He graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1938 and served as a captain in the Royal Canadian Medical Army Corps during the Second World War. He performed battle surgery on the frontlines and witnessed the effects of hypothermia on wounded soldiers. He returned to Toronto in 1947 and became a surgical staff member at the Toronto General Hospital and a professor of surgery at the University of Toronto. He began to experiment with the use of hypothermia to slow tissue metabolism and protect the heart and brain from damage during cardiac surgery. He also collaborated with John Hopps of the National Research Council of Canada to develop the first artificial pacemaker, a device that could stimulate the heart with electrical impulses. He published his findings on hypothermia and the pacemaker in 1950 and received international recognition for his work. He also wrote a book, Cold Hearts: The Story of Hypothermia and the Pacemaker in Heart Surgery, in 1984. He received many awards and honours for his contributions to medicine, including the Order of Canada in 1981, the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2001. He died on March 27, 2005 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 91. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of cardiac surgery and a leader in medical innovation.