User:Uqmphill/george bedbrook

George Bedbrook was born 8 October 1921 in Melbourne, Australia. He was a twin. His father died when George and his brother Fred were 10. In this sense, he was raised by his mother, Ethel, and experienced an underprivileged but, overall, happy childhood. This background may have fostered the determination and tenacity that typified his life and career. “Anyone who knows him is aware of the presence of a human dynamo, a man who has high goals and an ability to achieve them”.

He met Jessie Page, married her and had five children.

Education
He was educated at Coburg State School, University High School and the University of Melbourne (Medicine) where he graduated in 1944 with honours in all subjects.

Career
Bedbrook became Resident Medical Officer at Royal Melbourne Hospital and an Anatomy Lecturer at University of Melbourne from 1946 to 1950. In 1950, the family moved to England to pursue career in orthopaedics at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, London. In the following year he met Dr Ludwig Guttmann and spent weekends at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and was taken under his tutelage. . In 1953, Bedbrook returned to Australia to further career in orthopaedic surgery. He went into private practice with McKellar-Hall and became a member of Royal Perth Hospital’s Orthopaedic Service. In 1954, he was asked to establish and coordinate the Shenton Park Spinal Injuries Unit at the Royal Perth Rehabilitation Hospital. Experience under Guttmann no doubt played a part in his selection for the task. At the Spinal Injuries Unit he focused on rehabilitation, not just treatment. In time, Bedbrook understood the benefits of organised sport in rehabilitation process. The value of sport was that it reduced chance of infection from pressure sores, improved musculature, diminished the sense of alienation and increased the sense of comradeship.