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John Carter Callaghan, OC, AOE, FRCSC, heart surgeon (born 1 October 1923 in Hamilton, ON; died 6 April 2004 in Orillia, ON). Callaghan is perhaps best known as the surgeon who performed Canada’s first successful open-heart surgery in 1956. Callaghan also co-developed a portable artificial external cardiac pacemaker in 1950. This revolutionary discovery laid the groundwork for the development and use of implantable external pacemakers in humans.
Early Medical Career
John Carter Callaghan, the son of a Steel Company of Canada manager, was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1923 (see Stelco Inc.). At a young age, Callaghan took an interest in the structure of the human body and read the widely known reference book, Gray’s Anatomy. After graduating from the University of Toronto in 1946, Callaghan interned at Toronto General Hospital. Shortly after, he served as a government medical officer in Aklavik, Northwest Territories, managing an outbreak of tuberculosis. During his time there, Callaghan narrowly averted disaster while accompanying an ill patient, Vital Barnaby, on a plane from Fort Good Hope to Arctic Red River (now known as Tsiigehtchic), Northwest Territories, in December 1948. When the plane’s engine failed, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing. Barnaby walked to Fort Good Hope to get help. Callaghan and the pilot spent three days in the frigid cold before being rescued.
Cardiac Pacemaker Innovation
In 1949, Callaghan was working as a research fellow at the University of Toronto’s Banting Institute. In the cardiovascular surgical experimental laboratory, known as Room 64, Callaghan, working alongside Dr. Wilfrid Bigelow, performed ground-breaking research looking into the use of hypothermia to protect the heart and brain from damage during surgery (see Cold-Weather Injuries). This research, performed on animals, led to the idea that an external pacemaker could regulate the beating of the heart. Dr. John A. Hopps from the National Research Council of Canada worked with the team and invented an external pacemaker that was successfully tested on a dog in 1950.
The landmark discovery of the cardiac pacemaker paved the way for the use of implantable pacemakers in humans. This medical breakthrough would save lives around the world. In October 1950, Dr. Callaghan travelled to Boston with Dr. Bigelow and spoke about the innovation at a surgical congress. In his book, Cold Hearts: The Story of Hypothermia and the Pacemaker in Heart Surgery (1984), Bigelow reflected on that moment: “This is quite a transformation for John, from the parka-clad flying Arctic doctor, within little more than a year, to addressing this large and distinguished scientific gathering.”
Canada’s First Successful Open-Heart Surgery
Canada’s First Successful Open-Heart Surgery
Callaghan’s talent could not be ignored and he was recruited by the University of Alberta Hospital (UAH) (see University of Alberta). Arriving in 1955, he worked with a team to research the possibilities of open-heart surgery, an area of research that was still in its infancy in Canada. Callaghan learned about the Lillehei-DeWall pump oxygenator, developed in Minnesota, that could temporarily replace the function of the heart and lung during surgery.
Callaghan’s team created a similar device and tested it on animals to prepare for the challenge of surgery on humans. Two infants did not survive the use of the machine. After the machine was used in surgery on an adult patient with pulmonary stenosis, in September 1956, Callaghan and his team operated on 10-year-old Susan Beattie, who had a hole between the left and right sides of her heart. For approximately eight minutes, the heart-lung pump was used, allowing Callaghan to stop Beattie’s heart and have it drained it of blood, while her aperture was closed. This operation was a first in Canada. On 15 November 1956, the Edmonton Journal described the event as “the greatest single advance in heart surgery in recent years.” Beattie went home in November 1956 and recovered.
Canada’s First Blue-Baby Operation
Callaghan’s pioneering work in open-heart surgery was among several Canadian “firsts” that he would perform in his career. On 15 December 1956, the Edmonton Journal reported on a rare heart operation. An 18-month-old baby, Sherry Anderson, suffered from blue-baby syndrome, a condition that causes skin to look bluish due to a shortage of oxygen in a baby’s blood. Dr. Callaghan and his team performed an operation to fix this condition for the first time in Canada. A heart-lung pump was used to take over the heart while a hole was repaired and an obstruction near the pulmonary artery removed.
Canada’s First Open-Heart Surgery to Treat Tetralogy of Fallot
In 1957, Callaghan also performed open-heart surgery to treat a patient’s tetralogy of Fallot. This condition, which is present at birth, impacts blood flow through the heart. The patient was four-year-old Dolly Ann Morrow, who had a hole located between the two ventricles of her heart. Dolly Ann also had an obstruction whereby her blood was not being circulated through her pulmonary artery. For one hour and four minutes, the heart-lung machine was utilized while a patch was placed to close the hole in Dolly Ann’s heart. This was the first open-heart surgery performed in Canada to treat tetralogy of Fallot.
Other Work
The young surgeon was appointed assistant clinical professor of surgery in 1958 and head of the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Alberta Hospital (UAH) in 1960. By 1970, Callaghan had performed approximately 1,500 surgeries as chief surgeon at UAH. From 1984 to 1985, he served as president of the Western Thoracic Surgical Association, based in the United States. Callaghan’s pioneering work in heart surgery earned him international recognition.
Legacy
Dr. Callaghan retired from his position at the University of Alberta Hospital as Head of the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery in 1986. He spent his retirement at his beloved cottage in Bala, Ontario. In 1996, the J.C. Callaghan Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit was dedicated at UAH. After a long illness, Dr. Callaghan passed away in 2004. An obituary written by the Globe and Mail newspaper called him “A Canadian King of Hearts.” Several streets in Edmonton commemorate the revered heart surgeon including Callaghan Drive SW and Callaghan Pointe SW.
Awards and Honours
- Lister Prize in Surgery, Reeve Prize in Surgical Research, University of Toronto (1949–50)
- Alberta Achievement Award for Excellence in Medical Research, Government of Alberta (1983)
- Citizen of the Year, City of Edmonton (1984)
- Distinguished Scientist Award, North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (1985)
- Officer, Order of Canada (1985)
- Inductee, Alberta Order of Excellence (1986)
- Haultain Award, Government of Alberta (1991)
- 125 Year Medal, Government of Canada (1992)
- The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
