‘My grandfather Roald Dahl gave an awesome gift to sick children... and so can you’

'So proud': Model turned writer Sophie Dahl
Rex
Anna Davis @_annadavis18 January 2016

Sophie Dahl has paid tribute to her grandfather Roald Dahl’s “awe- inspiring” connection to Great Ormond Street Hospital and urged people to donate to the Give to Gosh appeal.

She spoke as the total raised by the campaign reached more than £2.7 million. As well as being a world-famous author, Roald Dahl helped to improve a piece of medical equipment called a “shunt”, which revolutionised the treatment of children suffering from water on the brain.

He worked with a Great Ormond Street neurosurgeon and an engineer friend in the Sixties to develop the device after his son Theo was injured in a road accident at the age of four months and developed the condition, known as hydrocephalus.

The new shunt, to help drain fluid from the brain, was used in 3,000 children worldwide in the Sixties before it was superseded by more modern devices. But Martin Tisdall, consultant paediatric neuro-surgeon at GOSH, said Dahl’s invention helped stimulate huge developments in medical technology. He added: “It was a kickstarter and got people looking at the problem.”

Roald Dahl with his first wife Patricia Neal, son Theo and daughter Tessa, who grew up to be Sophie's mother
Alamy

Sophie, 38, said: “With all of our help Great Ormond Street Hospital can continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. I’m so proud that my grandfather is a part of the hospital’s extraordinary history. By donating to the Give to GOSH appeal you can make a real difference to the lives of sick children and maybe support another future inventor!”

Hydrocephalus causes a build-up of fluid in the skull and can put lethal pressure on the brain. Treatment involved inserting a valve attached to a tube, known as a shunt, to drain fluid from the skull.

But the type of shunt used on Roald Dahl’s son jammed regularly causing headaches, nausea, pain and — in the case of Theo — temporary blindness. Theo had to undergo many operations to replace the shunt. Roald Dahl worked with his friend Stanley Wade, a hydraulic engineer, and GOSH neurosurgeon Kenneth Till to come up with a better device.

In 1962 they created their new shunt that did not jam, was easy to sterilise and was robust. It was patented and produced at a third of the cost of other commercially available valves, and thousands of children benefited. The team made no profit from the new device and essentially gifted it to the NHS. Eventually Theo grew out of his hydrocephalus and did not need to use the new shunt.

Sophie said: “My grandfather liked to know what made people and things tick. He had a relentlessly curious nature. Its no surprise he collaborated on such an innovative invention, as he was always searching for answers.

“The previous shunt that had been used to treat children with hydrocephalus, like Theo, was clumsy at best. As a parent of a child with brain injuries, my grandfather had witnessed first-hand the devastation they could wreak.

“The shunt had awful side-effects and watching his baby, who had already been through so much, suffer them must have been excruciating. I can picture my grandfather now, thinking: ‘There must be a better way than this’. I imagine the eureka moment when he, Stanley Wade and Kenneth Till realised there was.”

She added: “I find the story incredibly moving. An engineer, writer and neurosurgeon each used their specific skills to create a device that would improve life for children with neurological problems. The collaboration shows that with imagination we are limitless. It’s an awe-inspiring, magical thing.”

Today experts at Great Ormond Street carry out around 350 operations a year on patients with hydrocephalus and shunts are still used to treat the majority of children.

Where your money will go

  • Funding the Louis Dundas Centre for Children’s Palliative Care, for patients who have life-limiting or life-threatening conditions
  • Supporting the creation of a new specialist unit helping children with heart failure to stay well while they wait for a heart transplant

  • Funding research programmes, which aim to find new cures and treatments for children with rare diseases

  • Funding the patient and family support programme at the hospital, including a dedicated play team which designs activities for children to aid their treatment, recovery and understanding of their illness. It also funds a wide range of other support, all helping to make life as “normal” as possible for families while children are in hospital, often for weeks or months at a time

Surgeons place a shunt into the ventricles of the brain to remove fluid. It is then drained to another part of the body through a valve where it can be absorbed. The valve controls the flow of fluid and prevents it going in the wrong direction.

Mr Tisdall said: “Before the development of the Dahl-Wade-Till valve no one was working on shunt valve development. Doctors had a poorly functioning valve at their disposal, which was very simply designed but in many ways was not the best option. The original valve was just a tube with slits in and it was going to be prone to blockage.

“What’s wonderful about the Dahl story is that it kickstarted the huge development which has led to shunt valves being far more successful.”

Some of the money from the Give to Gosh campaign will go towards funding research that will enable more medical breakthroughs to take place.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in