Blalock had performed the operation once before under the guidance of his colleague Thomas and he insisted that Thomas help guide him through the procedure taking place for the first time on a human patient.
Thomas stood on a step stool in order to look over Blalock’s shoulder and provide guidance during surgery. The surgery proved to be only a partial success. Saxon recovered from the surgery and actually regained her pink complexion for a few short months before relapsing. A second operation was performed, but she died shortly before her third birthday.
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Still, the first step had been taken and it paved the way for further procedures. The second and third procedures, performed on an 11-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy respectively, proved far more successful with both patients able after a recovery period to leave the hospital under their own power and go on to lead long, healthy lives.
Blalock continued his work at Johns Hopkins and his partnership with Thomas. The relationship would span a period of more than 30 years, ending in Blalock’s death from cancer in 1964.
Thomas would continue at Johns Hopkins as director of surgical research laboratories. In this role, he was able to mentor future doctors, including the hospital’s first black cardiac resident.
His and Blalock’s portraits also grace the halls of the hospital, next to each other as the two men had been decades before on a history-making day. In 1976, the university presented Thomas with an honorary degree. Due to restrictions, it was a law degree rather than a medical degree. Still, it allowed the many doctors he had mentored over the years to address him in kind as “Dr. Thomas.”
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