Dr. Charles Drew, was born into this world with what seemed like a rocket strapped to his back. Dr. Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. While his interests included everything from education to athletics, he landed in the field of medicine, and an exceptional doctor he would become.
In his early years, Charles was actually an award winning swimmer and went on to shine as one of Dunbar High School’s star athletes, whether it be football, baseball, basketball or track and field, Charles Drew was well known for just about everything he tried. After winning his “James E. Walker Memorial medal” as his school’s best all around athlete, Charles went to graduate from Dunbar High School in 1922. He continued his educational journey in Massachusetts, attending Amherst College for four years.
While attending Amherst college, Charles managed to not only captain his all-American college football team, but he was also awarded the “Howard Hill Mossman trophy” being declared the man who contributed the most to his colleges sports and other athletics activities.
After such a rewarding and impressive graduation from Amherst College, Charles went on to accept a position as a biology teacher, at Morgan State University, in Baltimore, Maryland. While in working in Baltimore, he kindly volunteered to become his school’s Athletic Director, and within his two year stay at Morgan State, he actually managed to assist the school in turning its basketball and football teams into collegiate champions!
After his inspiring time teaching at Morgan State, Charles finally decided to begin pursuing his interest in medicine in 1928. He enrolled at McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, where he went on to graduate second in his class of 126 other students, officially becoming a doctor. He was now certified as a doctor of medicine and master of surgery. Charles eventually left Canada, and returned to the United States in 1933, where he began his work at Howard University in Washington, D.C and was awarded the “Rockefeller Foundation Research Fellowship“ which is a grant from the medical community, which allowed him the money he needed to spend two years at Columbia University, and go on to do research at Columbia University Presbyterian Hospital, now known as “New York Presbyterian Hospital”. While there he became involved in some incredible research. He became involved in groundbreaking research on blood and blood transfusions.
Back in Canada, Charles had actually saved a man’s life by giving him a blood transfusion. And then in Columbia, he wrote his famous dissertation on “Banked Blood”, a very detailed description in which he explains his newfound technique developed for long-term preservation of blood plasma, (storing and keeping blood fresh for long periods of time). Before Charles created this method, it was impossible for people to store blood for any longer than two days without having it go bad and no longer be useful in saving lives. Charles also discovered that while people may have many different blood-types, everyone actually shares the same type of plasma. This breakthrough alone saved many lives, and continues to save lives to this day.
Charles convinced Columbia University to start a blood bank, and was invited to take a trip to England in order to help set up England’s first blood bank. In doing so, he became the first black person to ever receive a Doctor of Medical Science degree from Columbia, and gained an amazing worldwide reputation within the medical community.
Dr. Charles Drew was married in September of 1939 to a loving wife named Lenore. Dr. and Mrs. Drew had four children soon after. Charles was appointed Supervisor of the Blood Transfusion Association for New York City, and was able to see his own work come to life as he was appointed to be a project director for the American Red Cross. he resigned soon after due to some unfortunate racially bias decisions made by his superiors in the medical/military community; they had decided, for black and white reasons, to keep the same exact blood from white and black donors separate; a view the doctor was not at all comfortable with. This was far from the end of his Dr. Drew’s medical career. Drew went on to become head his Department of Surgery at Howard University, Chief of Surgery at Freedmen’s Hospital, and was later even named Chief of Staff and Medical Director for the Hospital. In 1948 he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the NAACP) for his medical breakthrough in his work with blood plasma. He was also presented the E. S. Jones Award for Research in Medical Science, he became the first black person to be appointed an examiner by the American Board of Surgery, in 1945 he was presented honorary degrees of Doctor of Science from Virginia State, and was elected Fellow of the International College of Surgeons, and in 1949 was appointed Surgical Consultant for the US Army’s European Theater of Operations. While all of this would still be considered remarkable, and unbelievably impressive to this day, this was unheard of for a black person back then, therefore making every bit of Dr. Charles Drew’s life, and all of his accomplishments that much more amazing. He was truly a great man, and contributed more to his fellow man than most people ever will. He lived a happy, fulfilling, and medically heroic life, and still managed to raise children and maintain a loving family. To this day, he remains a symbol of hope to us all for overcoming adversity while moving forward, paving the way for medical history throughout the years.
Dr. Charles Drew died in 1950, on the first day of April. He tragically lost control of his automobile and was involved in an accident which turned his car up-side down. Contrary to popular legend, Charles was in fact brought to an ‘all-white hospital’ and was not denied medical care. He received a blood-transfusion there at the hospital, and from the experienced medical professionals at this hospital was actually given blood taken from white donors, the doctors did everything they could to save his life, but he was too far gone, and passed away that day. His family later wrote personal letters to those same doctors, thanking them for the unconditional care they provided him in his final hour. Over many years, Dr. Drew has been viewed and accepted as one of the most honored and respected individuals in the medical field, and his development of the blood plasma bank has given countless people a second chance to live. He was truly a great man, and a medical hero.
In prepping for a discussion with my doctor about using bee pollen to control the glitches in my cholesterol levels, I first did a little reading about the supposed miracle act this natural powder can perform. I must admit, it sounds like a whole lot of goodness in such a microscopic package. I was surprised to learn the different uses for bee pollen.
