Peterborough Infirmary was one of the first locations in the country to use X-rays. Alfred Caleb Taylor, the infirmary’s dispenser and secretary, was a keen photographer and, excited by the discovery of X-rays in the final weeks of 1895, created his own X-ray equipment in the infirmary. Images produced were positives, rather than the negatives that are produced today and they were taken to identify foreign bodies as well as broken bones.
In 1911 a two-year-old girl named Mona Ray was taken to Peterborough Infirmary from Ramsey. She was X-rayed and discovered to have swallowed a hair pin, which had travelled through to her intestines, no doubt causing her some discomfort. Thanks to the X-ray the doctors knew exactly where to operate and quickly removed the offending hair pin. Thankfully the operation was a success and the girl was described as ‘recovering splendidly.’
References
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 28th Jan 1911, p5, col 5
