A Life in Vascular Surgery. Blood is the life-force of every human being and other animals. When it leaks out of our blood vessels, we die. When the aorta, the biggest blood vessel in the body, bursts, death usually comes quickly but for a lucky few its not instantaneous. For them, survival is possi...

A Life in Vascular Surgery. Blood is the life-force of every human being and other animals. When it leaks out of our blood vessels, we die. When the aorta, the biggest blood vessel in the body, bursts, death usually comes quickly but for a lucky few its not instantaneous. For them, survival is possible with emergency surgery. When a blockage in a blood vessel stops the blood from flowing, the deprived part of the body malfunctions and may decay if an operation to relieve the blockage is not performed. When Peter Harris first became a consultant vascular surgeon in the 1980s, the operations were big and bloody. When he finished in