Masse, Wilfred (1925-1936)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1936 Aug 5 p. 1

Birth date: 1925

text of obituary:

SEWED UP HEART FAILS TO SAVE BOYS LIFE

Thirteen days after surgeons performed a rare operation in an effort to save his life, Wilfred Masse, 11, died late last week at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Canada. The boy, whose heart was pierced by the sharp pointed door handle of an automobile July 16, was reported to be holding his own, but grew steadily weaker during the afternoon and did not respond to desperate measures to keep him alive.

The boy's life had hung in the balance from the time Dr. J. A. Hurteau, Cornwall, inserted seven stitches to close a wound 1 ¾ inches long and an eighth inch deep on his heart.

The door handle had pierced the chest, breaking four ribs and tearing the pericardium sac surrounding the heart. Before the operation doctors had considered the boy's chance of recovery but one in a thousand, but he showed such signs of improvement after that he was given a 50-50 chance for life.