Robert Liston: The Reckless Surgeon Who Killed His Patient And Two Bystanders
Wikimedia CommonsKnown as the “fastest knife on West End,” Dr. Robert Liston drew massive crowds during his surgeries.
As far as surgeons go, Robert Liston was the fastest of his time. It was an imperative part of the process during the early 19th century, as anesthesia had yet to be developed. Unfortunately, being fast inherently turned precision into an afterthought — with grisly consequences.
Born and educated in Scotland, Liston’s passion and enthusiasm for anatomy saw him become “the fastest knife on West End.” He was particularly skilled at performing amputations and could complete the entire process of slicing and suturing in less than three minutes, losing only one in 10 patients at a time when one in four was standard.
In terms of mad scientists, Liston was no barbarian with maniacal needs for experimentation. Ultimately, the only harrowing thing about him was how gleeful he appeared while cutting off people’s limbs. He once removed a leg in a mere 28 seconds and coined a prideful catchphrase — “Time me, gentlemen!” — while demonstrating amputations before his peers.
Wikimedia CommonsA marble bust of Liston, sculpted in his honor.
Unfortunately, his pride often caused his patients to suffer needlessly. Liston once broke his own speed record during a leg amputation but severed the subject’s testicles in his rush to get it done. He also mistook a lump in a child’s throat for a skin tag and chopped it off — only realizing once the boy had died that it was an aneurysm of his carotid artery.
Perhaps most infamously, Liston made history by performing the only surgery on record with a 300 percent mortality rate. Liston was so focused on his speed during the amputation in question that he accidentally cut off the fingers of his assistant along with the patient’s leg.
And when he swung the knife back up, he accidentally slashed into the coattails of a spectator, who fainted on the spot. It was later revealed that the spectator had died of shock, and the patient and assistant also died after their wounds got infected — meaning there were three deaths total.
Ultimately, Liston’s madness appeared to have been a product of his time. Determined to provide his patients with as few seconds of pain as possible, he largely prioritized speed over care — with a few victims left in his wake that might have survived with just a few more moments of discomfort.
