Dr. Leila Denmark, the world's oldest practicing physician when she retired at age 103, has died, her family members said. She was 114.
Denmark became the first resident physician at Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children in Atlanta when it opened in 1928, said her grandson, Steven Hutcherson of Atlanta. She also admitted the first patient at the hospital, now part of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
She loved helping children, and it showed in the way she would turn to the next family waiting to see her, Hutcherson said.
``She would say, `Who is the next little angel?,'' he said.
Denmark began her pediatrics practice in her home in Atlanta in 1931 and continued until her retirement in 2001. That year, she earned the distinction of being the world's oldest practicing physician, said Robert Young, senior consultant for gerontology for Guinness World Records. She was also the world's fourth-oldest living person when she died, Young said.
Throughout her career, she always kept her office in or near her home, where children and their parents would show up at all hours in need of care, family members said.
``The kids would come in and she would spend as much time as she needed with the parents to help fix that baby or that child,'' Hutcherson said. ``What she would do is figure out how to help them stay well.''
Helping children get well and stay well was challenging in Atlanta's soot-stained air that darkened the sky during the Depression era, relatives said.
She treated some of Atlanta's poorest children as a volunteer at the Central Presbyterian Baby Clinic near the state capitol in Atlanta, said her daughter, Mary Hutcherson. Mill workers and other poor people who had no other way to get medical care would bring their sick children to the clinic.
Denmark loved her volunteer work at the clinic, just as she loved seeing patients in her home, her daughter said.
That enduring love of her work was a key to her long life, along with eating right, family members said.
``She absolutely loved practicing medicine more than anything else in the world,'' said another grandson, Dr. James Hutcherson. ``She never referred to practicing medicine as work.''
Denmark also received several honors during her career, including the Fisher Award in 1935 for outstanding research in diagnosis, treatment, and immunization of whooping cough. (AP)
<관련 한글 기사>
100살 넘어서까지 아이들 돌본 의사, 사망
103세에 은퇴하기 전까지 세계 최고령 개업의(醫)였던 미국의 레일라 덴마크가 지난 1일(현지시간) 향년 114세로 숨졌다고 그녀의 가족들이 3일 밝혔다.
덴마크의 손자 스티븐 허처슨은 그녀가 생전 아이들을 돕는 것을 좋아했고 이는 진료를 기다리는 환자 가족을 맞이하는 방식에서 나타났다며 "그녀는 '다음 차례 꼬마 천사는 누구니?"라고 말하곤 했다"고 전했다.
덴마크는 1931년 애틀랜타에 있는 자신의 집에서 아동진료를 시작, 세계 최고령 개업의라는 명성을 얻고 2001년 은퇴할 때까지 의료활동을 계속했다고 기네스북의 노인학 분야 자문위원인 로버트 영은 전했다.
덴마크는 숨지기 전까지 세계에서 4번째로 나이 많은 인물이었다고 로버트 영은 덧붙였다.
유족들은 덴마크가 의사직에 있는 동안 진료실을 항상 집안이나 집 가까이에 뒀으며 아이들과 그 부모들이 언제든 찾아올 수 있게 했다고 전했다.
덴마크는 애틀랜타 주청사 인근 중앙장로교 소아치료소에서 자원봉사자로 일하며 지역 최빈곤층 아동들을 진료하기도 했다. 이 치료소는 의료 혜택을 받을 길 없는 가난한 노동자 등 빈곤층 자녀가 아플 때 오는 곳이다.
덴마크의 또다른 손자 제임스는 "그녀는 의료 활동을 세상의 그 무엇보다도 사랑했다"며 "이를 절대 일로 여기지 않았다"고 말했다. (연합뉴스)
