Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Towards the west is the Midrand and Kyalami motor race course. I used to work there as a
medic for the Formula 1 races and in return would get an official pass that allowed me to move
to wherever I wanted to on the course during the race. I used to place myself at corners where
accidents might happen to be able to photograph them. I have photographs of Jodi “Sideways”
Scheckter spinning out of control at the end of the straight and Carlos Reutman crashing and his
car going up in flames among others. During my time there I looked after two drivers who had
serious orthopedic injuries to their legs since the cockpits in those days were not as solid as
they are today. We would also walk around the pits and chat to the drivers. I have pictures of
Nicki Lauda, both before and after his burns, Mario Andretti and others. There were often
many pretty girls around trying to meet the drivers but after they did not have much success,
they would drift over to us less macho doctors. I have a picture of Ronnie Peterson on the
podium when he won the race at Kyalami. I congratulated him in Swedish, but sadly about two
weeks later he crashed in Italy and died from relatively minor orthopedic leg fractures. The
most horrific crash was the one in 1974 during practice when Peter Revson, the heir to the
Revlon fortune, crashed on the straight into a firefighter sprinting across the track. The
extinguisher hit Revson's helmet and the firefighter was cart wheeled by the impact; neither
survived.
Closer to the airport, the skeletal remains of old gold “mine dumps” are still visible. One of
the richest men in Africa, Patrice Motsepe, has been involved in recycling gold mines.
Flying into Johannesburg and Cities:
Johannesburg is a bustling cosmopolitan city. I lived there for some 13 years and very much
enjoyed my medical school, cardiology, general surgery and early cardiothoracic training but
had mixed feelings for its living conditions having come from a rural environment with open
expanses and wildlife. I remember also cities I have lived in like Stockholm, Houston, Boston,
Durban, Cleveland, and Denver with great fondness.
Boston Harbor
Johannesburg has great institutions such as the University of Witwatersrand (Wits,
pronounced “Vits”) but it lacks the essence of city life that other cities have.
For many cities, the danger is that cities become crime ridden and people turn on each other
in their struggle to survive, echoing the Jethro Tull words:
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