Charles Schepens facts for kids
Charles Louis Schepens (born March 13, 1912 – died March 28, 2006) was a doctor from Belgium and America. Many people called him "the father of modern retinal surgery." He was also a brave member of the French Resistance during World War II.
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A Young Doctor and Resistance Hero
Charles Schepens was born in Mouscron, Belgium, in 1912. His father was also a doctor. Charles first studied math, then went to medical school in Belgium. He became a doctor in 1935. After that, he trained to be an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) in London, England, before World War II started.
When Germany invaded Belgium in 1940, Charles became a medical officer in the Belgian Air Force. After Belgium was defeated, he escaped to France. There, he joined the French Resistance. This was a secret group fighting against the German occupation.
Helping People Escape
From 1942 to 1943, Schepens helped smuggle important documents and people across the Pyrenees mountains into Spain. He used a fake name, Jacques Perot, and pretended to be a lumber mill worker. The German secret police, called the Gestapo, caught him twice. But he managed to escape both times! When he found out the Germans knew about his secret work, he escaped to England.
A Pioneer in Eye Surgery
After the war, Schepens continued his medical work in London. In 1947, he moved to the United States. He became a special doctor at Harvard Medical School. Schepens is famous for creating a new field in eye medicine called "vitreo-retinal" surgery. This area focuses on the vitreous (the gel inside your eye) and the retina (the light-sensing part at the back of your eye).
Building New Eye Centers
In 1949, he started the world's first retina service at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. This was a special clinic just for retina problems. He also started the first training program for doctors who wanted to become retina specialists.
In 1950, he opened a research lab called the Retina Foundation. This lab was created to study diseases of the retina. Today, it's known as the Schepens Eye Research Institute. It works with Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. It started with only 6 staff members and grew to 200 by 2006. It was the biggest independent eye research group in the U.S. In 2011, it joined with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
In 1967, Schepens also founded The Retina Society. He was its first president from 1968 to 1969.
Amazing Inventions and Techniques
Schepens invented a special tool called the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope (BIO). This tool helps doctors look at the retina in detail. Doctors still use it every day! His original BIO is now in the Smithsonian Institution museum. People say he built the first one using metal scraps he found on the streets of London during the German bombings (called the Blitz).
He also developed new surgical methods, like "scleral buckling." This surgery helps fix a serious eye problem called retinal detachment, where the retina pulls away from the back of the eye. Before Schepens, only about 40% of these surgeries worked. Thanks to his new techniques, the success rate jumped to 90%!
During his life, Schepens wrote four books and over 340 research papers about his work.
Awards and Honors
Charles Schepens received many awards for his amazing contributions.
In 1999, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery named him one of the ten most important eye doctors of the century. In 2003, the American Academy of Ophthalmology honored him for his great work in the field.
In 2006, he also received the French Legion of Honour award from France. This was for his brave actions during the war, where he helped over 100 people escape from France into Spain.
His life story is told in two books:
- "The Surgeon and the Shepherd: Two Resistance Heroes in Vichy France" by Meg Ostrum (2004).
- Saving Sight: An eye surgeon's look at life behind the mask and the heroes who changed the way we see by Andrew Lam (author), M.D. (2013).
Charles Schepens passed away in 2006 at the age of 94.
