After 34 years as a surgical technologist at Barnes Hospital, Thelma Stocking retires. She had assisted Eugene Bricker, MD, with pelvic cancer surgeries and was a longtime scrub nurse for Richard Bradley, MD.
“She was the stabilizing force in our OR. [Dr.] Willard Walker had both hands in a patient one day, and Thelma said: ‘Have you ever read about Brer Rabbit, Dr. Walker?’ He said: ‘I have.’ And she said, ‘I think you’re in the briar patch.’ He relaxed; she had brought a little warmth there, and everything worked out all right.”
— Richard Bradley, MD