Evan O'Neill Kane
| Evan O'Neill Kane | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 6, 1861 Darby, Pennsylvania |
| Died | April 1, 1932 (aged 70) Kane, Pennsylvania |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Alma mater | Jefferson Medical College |
| Occupation | Surgeon |
| Known for | Self-surgery |
Evan O'Neill Kane (April 6, 1861 – April 1, 1932) was a surgeon working in Pennsylvania, United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and a member of a notable Pennsylvanian family. Several other members of his family were also surgeons or physicians, and their family home, Anoatok, is now on the National Registry of Historic places.
He is most well known for the remarkable feat of removing his own appendix under local anesthetic in 1921 at the age of 60. He operated on himself again at the age of 70 to repair a hernia. In many ways Kane was idiosyncratic in his practices, which included the tattooing of his patients. Kane was again in the public eye in 1931 when he testified at the sensational trial of his son, Elisha Kent Kane III, a college professor, who was accused and then acquitted of murder in Elizabeth City County, Virginia following the drowning death of his wife near the Back River Light during a trip to the beach with him.
Kane was one of the founding members of the Kane Summit Hospital and became chief surgeon there. A large part of Kane's work was in railway surgery. In this field he contributed a number of innovations in procedures and equipment. These included asbestos bandages, mica windows for brain surgery, and multiple site hypodermoclysis.
Kane's father was the American Civil War Major General Thomas L. Kane, who was also the founder of the town Kane, Pennsylvania and a prominent abolitionist. Thomas L. Kane also played a role in preventing war with the Mormons through his friendship with Brigham Young. Kane's mother, Elizabeth Denniston Wood Kane, M.D. also practiced medicine (until 1909) as did his brother, William (also called Thomas L. Kane Jr.) (b. 1863), and his sister, Harriet Amelia (1855–1896). Kane also had an elder brother, Elisha Kent Kane (b. 1856), an engineering graduate from Princeton.
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