Do No Harm. Stories About Life, Death, and Neurosurgery

The book is about the daily life of a neurosurgeon, his work, his choices about which patients to fight for and which to let go. Of course, you wouldn't want to visit him, but sometimes it happens. And you want the doctor to do his job well. But we all forget that neurosurgeons are also people, with their own worries, grievances, lack of sleep... headaches, finally. What is it like to be responsible for a person's life and health? Where do people, on whom so much depends, draw their strength?
The continuing series "Medicine Without Borders." Books about those who save lives! – books about the work of medical staff.

When we make mistakes or encounter the mistakes of others, we comfort ourselves with phrases like "To err is human." But do they comfort the person who became a victim of someone else's incompetence? And do they comfort the doctor who couldn't help?

We want to believe that a doctor is infallible in his workplace. In the operating room, he is all-powerful, never tired, never feels unwell, never gets irritated, and never distracts himself with unrelated thoughts. But what is it really like to be a neurosurgeon? What is it like to know that your actions determine not only a patient's life but also their personality – the ability to think and create, to feel sadness and joy?

Sooner or later, every neurosurgeon inevitably grapples with these questions, as any operation carries enormous risk. Henry Marsh, a world-renowned British neurosurgeon, pondered these throughout his career, and the result of his reflections was an exciting, candid, and poignant book, the main idea of which can be summed up in two short words: "do no harm."