I remember Dr Hockman visiting our home in (about) 1953. As a youngster I had gone down with mumps, measles and chicken pox in rapid succession. As a treat my mother had bought me a licquorice cigarette in the end of which was a dried pea covered in red foil to represent the burning tobacco. Definitely not PC these days. Being a curious child I unwrapped the pea and managed to sniff it up my nose where it became jammed. Dr Hockman was duly summoned and, with the aid of a small spatula, he manged to prise the pea loose and worked it down to my nostril. Sadly I had been holding my breath and just before he recovered the object I sniffed and back it went! He tried this three times with the same result and at which point, even I as a 7 year old, realised he was losing his temper. The result was a visit to Lewisham Hospital where the staff of trained sadists clamped me to an examining couch and after numerous attempts to dislodge the object finally felt that a recourse to anaesthetic was inevitable. Imagine a youngster being held down by four nurses by his feet and hands while a surgeon probed his nose. Terror was not the word. The pea was removed while I was unconscious and I was returned home with my mother by Tram still barely conscious.
David Line
