A surgeon with AIDS made the most of borrowed time

Nancy Robb

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 154: 223-225

Nancy Robb is a freelance writer living in Halifax.

Abstract

Dr. Orville Messenger and his wife, Dorothy, wrote a book, Borrowed Time, which chronicled his decade-long struggle with AIDS. The disease developed following a 1985 blood transfusion. A general and thoracic surgeon who also worked for the Canadian Medical Protective Association, Dr. Messenger wrote the book to raise public awareness, and money for AIDS research, prevention and treatment. He died Dec. 13, 1995 -- exactly 10 years after being told to take a blood test because of possible HIV infection.

| CMAJ January 15, 1996 (vol 154, no 2) |