In Search of Lucille

Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street NY, NY 10016; 212-808-4980Produced by Motion InternationalDirected by Helene Kladowsky2001, VHS, color, 45 min. In a time when it was rare to see a woman doctor, Lucille Teasdale, the daughter of a working class Quebec family, determined to become not just a doctor but a surgeon. Inspired by the visit of medical missionaries to her school, and with the support of her father, she began medical training only to find after finishing a grueling five-year internship in Montreal that none of the major American hospitals would accept her in a residency program. While in Montreal she caught the eye of an Italian physician, Piero Corti who was working to establish a hospital in Uganda. He invited her to visit him in Africa. Both Africa and Piero enchanted Lucille, and she joined him as both wife and professional colleague. Together they worked to build St Mary’s Hospital Lacor, in Gulu, Uganda, with Lucille maintaining a rigorous surgical practice and Piero managing the hospital administration and fund raising. For twenty years she was the only surgeon with specialized expertise for a population of two million people. When Idi Amin came to power after Ugandan independence, Lucille and Piero, unlike many of their colleagues, refused to abandon the people and the country they had come to love. As Uganda degenerated into chaos and bloody civil war, Lucille’s practice became that of a field surgeon; she treated men, women and children who had suffered the horrific injuries of war. The hospital was sprayed with machine gun fire and raided repeatedly during the fighting and sometime during this period she contracted the AIDS virus, most likely from as a consequence of her surgical work. In very typical fashion she continued her extraordinarily demanding practice, easing her workload only when forced to by the progress of her disease. In Africa and in Italy Lucille Teasdale and her husband Piero Corti were venerated, but not until the mid 1990s was she recognized by her native Canada. Dr. Lucille died in 1996 of the effects of AIDS, but her husband has continued the campaign to bring quality medical care to the people of Uganda and to expand the hospital. Using a mix of still photos, interviews with colleagues, family and friends, and archival footage, this documentary highlights the achievements of a remarkable woman. Unfortunately, some of the archival footage, especially the film of the memorial service held for Lucille in Uganda, is of poor quality. Those in attendance appear to have their features blotted out by stocking masks. The sound quality, however, is good, and the story moves briskly. St Mary’s Lacor is today the second largest hospital in Uganda and has, according to their Web site St. Mary's Lacor Hospital - The Piero and Lucille Corti Foundation, a 128% bed occupancy rate. Those interested in further information should check the Hospital’s Web page. In addition a made-for-Canadian-TV movie, Dr Lucille - Un rêve pour la vie was produced in 2000 by George Mihalka. The hospital’s Web page does an excellent job of adding contextual information and filling in the additional details about the dynamic life work of this extraordinarily dedicated woman.