World TB Day - In search of the lost children of Craig-y-nos - a podcast by UCL

'The Challenge of TB: UCL's Contribution' held on 24th March 2010 included a plenary presentation by Dr. Carole Reeves, an Outreach Historian. Dr Reeves gives a fascinating insight into life in a TB sanatorium from her collective history of Craig-y-Nos, South Wales. In operation from 1922, this TB Sanatorium for children and young women closed in 1959 with the introduction of the first antibiotics effective against TB. Her research began through work initiated by a previous patient, and rapidly expanded due to an overwhelming response to the Craig-y-Nos blog, resulting in over 150 oral histories and more than 1250 photographs. Patients recounted memories of their TB treatment; from the discomfort of having a gastric lavage, to sleeping outside on the balconies in the Welsh winters and waking under a tarpaulin heavy with snow. The social consequences of the disease were also highlighted, with many patients feeling ostracised and abandoned by families, friends, and no chance of future employment through fear of contamination. However, among these accounts were also many happy stories and photographs of the fun and friendships that were made between the children and women, several of whom have been reunited decades later as a result of the project. A book documenting this history has recently been published.

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