Lucille Teasdale: Doctor of Courage

Christine Linge MacDonald, a past director of the Toronto & District
Parent Co-operative Preschool Corporation, is an elementary-school
teacher in Whitby, Ontario,

This biography tells the fascinating story of one of Canada’s most
remarkable people, a female surgeon who faced sexual discrimination to
become a doctor, and then braved the unsettled and often violent
politics of Uganda to bring modern medicine to people in need. Dr.
Teasdale performed thousands of operations under difficult conditions,
and became a war surgeon throughout the frightening reign of Idi Amin.
She contracted AIDS during an operation, but lived many productive,
years during which she spoke out boldly about the need for Africa and
the world to deal with the threat of AIDS. This beautiful, strong woman
saved thousands of lives and trained many medical professionals to
continue her work.

Cowley draws the reader into Teasdale’s story by recounting the
sights, sounds, and smells of every episode, including the passionate
romance Teasdale enjoyed with her Italian doctor husband, who inspired
her to come to Uganda. Cowley’s excellent prose brings Teasdale’s
worthy story to life, bringing out the full passion of this Canadian
hero’s tale. Especially useful is the 24–page timeline that
parallels Teasdale and her times with Canada and world events—this in
itself is a thorough education in recent history. Highly recommended.