Newswise — PARK RIDGE, ILLINOIS – Most people of a certain age have vivid memories of the terrible day when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Few may remember that there was another attack on King’s life nearly 10 years earlier in New York City, where a mentally unstable woman stabbed him with a letter opener as he sat autographing copies of his first book, Stride Toward Freedom.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Goldie Brangman remembers the day better than most.
Brangman, who was on staff at Harlem Hospital where King was rushed for surgery on September 20, 1958, recalls the harrowing events of that day in a recent issue of the AANA Journal, the scholarly publication of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA). The Imagining in Time column, “Goldie Brangman Remembers the Operation to Save Dr King,” was co-written by nurse anesthesia historian Evan Koch, CRNA, MSN.
As Brangman recalled, the letter opener had been thrust deep into King’s chest and was precariously and dangerously positioned between a major artery and King’s aorta. The slightest movement by King could have caused massive bleeding from the blade puncturing either or both the artery and aorta.
“Every breath would move the blade. The time saved by doing [the surgery] then and there at Harlem Hospital really did save King’s life,” said Brangman. Whether King would undergo surgery at Harlem Hospital was under great discussion by politicians, law enforcement officials, reporters and the New York governor at the time, Averill Harriman. The surgeons managed to convince the governor that moving King was dangerous, and that he was in good hands right there.
Surgery proceeded, and the surgeons marveled at the strength it would have taken to plunge the letter opener in far enough to penetrate King’s sternum. After removing two ribs and a portion of the sternum, the letter opener was removed, and King went on to make a full recovery.
Brangman maintained and completed King’s anesthesia after the letter opener was removed. She worked at Harlem Hospital for 45 years where she was director of the nurse anesthesia educational program, and also served as president of the AANA in 1973-74 before retiring to Hawaii.
Read the full story: www.aana.com/brangman
About the AANA JournalThe AANA Journal is the official scholarly journal of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists since 1933.
About the American Association of Nurse AnesthetistsFounded in 1931 and located in Park Ridge, Ill., the AANA is the professional organization for more than 49,000 nurse anesthetists across the United States. As anesthesia specialists, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) safely provide approximately 40 million anesthetics to patients each year for surgical, obstetrical, pain management, and trauma stabilization services. CRNAs deliver essential healthcare in thousands of communities and are able to prevent gaps in access to anesthesia services, especially in rural, inner-city, and other medically underserved areas of the country. They are highly valued in today’s healthcare environment because they deliver the same safe, high-quality anesthesia care as other anesthesia professionals but at a lower cost, helping to control rising healthcare costs. Additional information about the AANA and CRNAs is available at www.aana.com and www.aana.com/future-today.
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