EVERYTHING THAT MAKES US HUMAN

On a daily basis Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon Jay Jayamohan makes life-and-death decisions on the most vulnerable and fragile members of society - babies and children. Daily, parents and carers put their faith in him and his team. Developments in the field of neurosurgery have been massive over recent years, and many of the everyday procedures Jayamohan undertakes would have been undreamt of only a few years ago. Despite this he is on the cutting edge of his work in this area and faces new and puzzling challenges every day. Many of his patients are faced with a lifetime of surgery, with each step along the treatment path often leading to unknown or unexpected repercussions. Though he is proud of his successes he learns from every procedure that goes wrong. Compassionate, frank and revelatory, his book portrays a man faced with potentially devastating decisions who's driven to help as many children as possible. 'There are two ways to open a child's head. The pretty way and the quick way. Usually I shave the hair, use a scalpel to nick the skin then apply an electro-cautery device to burn down to bone level. It's a slow, precise method and leaves almost no scarring. But it takes time. Time, the interminable single note of the heart monitor reminds me, I don't have.' Jayamohan is an Asian who struggled in 1970s Britain as an Asian growing up and he has been featured in two highly acclaimed BBC fly-on-the-wall series following the work of neurosurgeons and their highs and lows. He is truly an inspirational man. 256pp.