Anatomy

Anatomy of a killing: Harry pulled the gun out and took aim – The Irish Times

On April 28th, 1978, the IRA shot dead off-duty RUC member Millar McAllister at his home in Lisburn, in an attack typical of the violence and horror of the Troubles. A new book reconstructs the brutal killing, the events that preceded it and its aftermath from the points of view of the killers, victims of IRA violence, security forces and others. This is an exclusive extract from Cobains book.

A few minutes past eight on a Saturday morning, Millar McAllister said goodbye to Nita, left their bungalow, climbed into his small blue hatchback and drove to Belfast. It had been a chilly month so far, heavy with rain, but this Saturday was shaping up into a clear day and the sun was making a weak effort to shine. Millar had just a few hours work to complete before returning to his weekend.

And today, as he drove to start his early shift, he was excited: it was the first day of the pigeon racing season.

It was April 1978. Just weeks earlier, an IRA firebomb attack on the La Mon House Hotel east of Belfast had killed 12 people, including three married couples. The attack had brought condemnation from around the world, even from the organisations own supporters.

The IRA had decided as a consequence to concentrate on what the British army called close-quarter assassinations. Millar, as well as being a pigeon fancier, was a police officer in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and he had, to use the security forces terminology of the time, been dicked he had been spotted, and his home watched.

Any car will do

Around three hours after Millar left home, Gary went to meet Harry, who was waiting near his home in Lenadoon in west Belfast. Harry had possession of two handguns: a .45 automatic pistol, and a .455 revolver with black tape wound around the handle.

During the week, one or two visitors to Harrys home had watched him sitting in an armchair, cleaning the revolver. He had decided that the revolver would be the weapon he would use. I knew it would be less likely to jam when I came to fire it. He handed the automatic to Gary. I told him not to shoot anyone, just to show it.

Slipping the weapon into the pocket of his anorak, Gary walked back down Lenadoon Avenue and turned left along Stewartstown Road. He had been instructed to wait outside a nearby shop until joined by another teenager whose description he had been given the night before.

Together they were under orders to acquire a car for that days operation Any car will do along with the owners driving licence. They should check the vehicle carefully for defects before leaving the keys in a hallway at the entrance to Rices, the bookmakers on the Andersonstown Road.

Gary soon saw the other youth. He was as described: tall, thin, sandy-haired. After the briefest of greetings, they made their way to the Andersonstown Road. Standing across the street from Rices, they watched as a number of cars pulled up and the drivers clambered out, locked up, and climbed the stairway on the left of the building, entering the first-floor bookmakers to place a bet. They didnt fancy any of the cars so far: each, in its own way, was far too dilapidated.

Then a yellow Fiat 127 with Belfast number plates pulled up. Despite a rusty roof rack, it looked reliable enough. Gary and the other youth watched as the owner fitted a steering lock to the wheel, locked the door, and walked up the stairs.

Right, said Gary, lets go. To his surprise, the other youth said he needed to go and do something Just wait a minute, he said, over his shoulder, and walked off down Andersonstown Road.

Gary waited, his heart beginning to pound. After a few moments the youth returned with a newspaper. Instead of walking across the road to Rices, however, he opened the newspaper and began to read. What are you doing? Gary demanded. Lets get on with it!

They crossed the road and climbed the stairs. The door opened and the Fiats owner walked out, squeezing past them on his way down. Hey, mate, said Gary. Provisional IRA. We want the lend of your car. Give me the keys. The driver turned, looked at the two young men, and immediately handed over his car keys.

Gary asked the man which one was the ignition key, and he showed him. He then asked for the mans name, address and occupation, and asked if he had his licence with him. The man gave his name and address, told Gary that he was a civil servant, and said that he did not have a licence with him.

Gary took the keys while the other youth escorted the civil servant back into Rices. Gary returned to the Fiat, opened the door and left the keys in the hallway, where they could be picked up by another person, as arranged.

Gary asked the other youth to go to see if the Whitefort, a pub a few doors away, was open for business. By now, the civil servant, who had been looking apprehensive, appeared terrified, although he had not been threatened, and Gary had not produced the .45 automatic. Dont be nervous, mate, Gary said. Youll be okay. Youll have your car back in an hour.

The youth returned to report that the bar was open. Right, said Gary, come down the Fort for a drink.

The civil servant explained that he did not want to have a drink. But I quickly understood that I was going for a drink and walked towards the Whitefort Inn. These two men followed behind. There were quite a few pedestrians about and I didnt see them hand the keys to anyone.

Inside the Fort they took a seat beneath an archway, just inside the door, with the car owner sitting between the two youths.

The sandy-haired teenager asked what he would like to drink. A beer please. The youth went to the bar and returned with three beers. The civil servant took in Gary. He had shoulder-length, unkempt dark hair, one days growth of beard, about 5ft 11 inches tall, well built good shoulders well educated and definitely not labourers hands.

Gary explained to the civil servant what he should say if he was brought in for questioning by the police. He should say that after his car was hijacked, he had been ordered into the back of a white van and a hood placed over his head; that he was ordered to lie down and a coat thrown over him. He should say that after being driven around for a few minutes, the car did a sharp right turn, that he was brought out and taken into a house, and that after a while he was put back into the van, driven around, then set free.

Gary bought three more beers, and the men sat and chatted about the books they were reading, and about world politics. At one oclock the Downtown Radio news came on the transistor behind the bar. Gary instructed the civil servant not to pay any attention, and not to listen to any news before he collected his car.

The two young men then stood up and instructed him to remain in his seat for five minutes. He could then go and collect his car from the car park of the Crazy Prices store in Lisburn. The keys would be either up the exhaust or in the ignition.

Gary went home and hid the gun under some old carpet on a shelf at the back of his garage. Two hours later a teenage girl called at his home to take it away.

I waited for a right wee while

At around the time Gary was meeting Harry that morning, Anne was saying goodbye to her mother at their home on the Twinbrook estate. Anne must have been anxious. She had, perhaps, slept poorly, wondering about this package that she was to collect. It was clearly a gun. What would it be used for?

She walked over to the Stewartstown Road, where she caught a bus to Lisburn. The journey flew by and she was in the town centre by 11.30am. I just dandered around for a while, and walked around Crazy Prices. She looked for a pipe, a birthday present for her brother, and bought a pack of 200 Players No 6 King Size cigarettes.

Furtively, praying that nobody would notice, she unfolded the hand-drawn map that she had been given the night before. Following its directions, she walked down Chapel Hill and turned on to Longstone Road. Then she steeled herself for her task.

Arriving at the junction of Moira Road and Ballinderry Road, Anne could see how busy it was: the traffic never appeared to let up. She felt awkward; she was certain that the people driving past were staring at her, eyeing her up and down, wondering what she was playing at. So she ventured a little way up Ballinderry Road, and waited outside St Patricks School. I waited for a right wee while

This is my op

After handing the automatic to Gary, Harry had gone home to dress for the occasion, choosing a blue pin-stripe suit, white shirt with a blue check, no tie. His shoulder-length hair had been carefully combed and brushed back.

He wanted to look respectable: beyond reproach; above suspicion. He looked a little out of place on the bus, of course: people didnt usually wear pin-stripe suits on the Lisburn bus, not on a Saturday morning. Well, not at any time, really. Harry hoped that nobody was looking at him too closely; that they were not taking in too many details.

The bus picked up a couple more passengers in Dunmurry. Harry put his hand inside the string bag, and touched the old blue scarf that was wrapped around the revolver. He felt the handle, wrapped around with black tape. Sure, hed taken the better gun, but Gary had been ordered not to shoot anyone in any case. He was just to show it, if he really needed to. Besides, Harry thought, this is all about what Im going to do: this is my op.

Harry rang the bell and got off the bus near Christ Church Cathedral. As he made his way along Market Square, towards the car park where he was to meet his driver, he walked past the doorway where District Inspector Oswald Swanzy had been shot dead in August 1920.

The men who planned Harrys movements knew that that was the last time the IRA had shot dead a policeman in Lisburn; todays operation was to have, as one of them put it, historical resonance.

Not that Harry was conscious that he was following the beaten path of Irelands violent political history: he was concentrating on remaining calm. He was nervous. Excited, too, but definitely jittery. It was natural, he told himself. He had never killed a man before. Although Lord knows hed tried.

A yellow car pulled into the car park, a Fiat 127 with a rusty black roof rack. It had a Belfast number plate: JOI 5595. At the wheel was the person who had picked it up from Rices. Harry climbed in. Ready? asked the driver.Ready.

They set off, heading south. The driver knew where to go. They drove slowly along the A1, past the hospital, and turned right into Woodland Park. It was a quiet street, an upright street: a place of semis, bungalows, well-kept gardens, washed-and-polished family saloons. Harry took it all in, hyperaware.

The driver slowed down as they approached number 106, a small whitewashed bungalow on the right-hand side of the road. The car mounted the kerb on the opposite side of the road and came to a halt with the two left-hand wheels on the pavement. The driver yanked on the handbrake, but kept the engine running.

Harry had already made clear to the driver that he was going to go alone: this man would never open the door to two visitors. As he climbed out of the Fiat he pushed the revolver into his waistband at the back of his trousers and crossed the road. To his left, a couple of hundred yards away, he could see a young woman and two teenage girls walking in his direction. He was breathing fast now and his heart was thumping: he could hear his pulse in his ears.

The venetian blinds at the front of number 106 were drawn. To the right of the house, at the end of the drive, a small blue car was parked. Someone was at home. Harry walked quickly up the drive and along the side of the bungalow.

Im here about photographs

Millar had arrived home after a few hours work at police headquarters. He had said goodbye to his colleagues, made his way back to his car, and set off for Lisburn. He called on a neighbour, and then went home to look after the boys while Nita went to work: she was a nursing domestic at a home a few minutes walk away. Their oldest son Mark was by now aged 11, and Alan was just a month short of his eighth birthday.

Charlie Chaplin was on BBC1, while Ulster TV was showing Sesame Street; Alan hovered around his father, however, watching the things he did. Millar made a sandwich for his lunch and drank some tea. He placed the plate and empty mug in a plastic bowl in the kitchen sink. Then he turned to his left. Through the patterned glass of the back door, he saw a figure moving in his back garden.

Thinking that on the first day of the racing season Millar would probably be tending his beloved pigeons, Harry had walked down the side of the bungalow, looking for the pigeon loft. There was no sign of it.

Behind him, he heard a noise. The back door had opened a little, and he could see a man in a brown V-neck sweater and brown leather jacket peering at him. Harry could see immediately that it was Millar, looking exactly as he did in his byline picture alongside the articles that he wrote for Pigeon Racing News and Gazette: the same dark hair, the same slightly sombre expression.

Are you Mr McAllister? asked Harry.

I am.

My father sent me up.

Whos your father?

Mr Lavery of Duncairn Pigeon Club. He made that one up on the spur of the moment.

The two men stared at each other. Now, thought Harry. Now!

A small boy appeared at Millars side and looked up at Harry. The boy stood there, staring at him through the few inches of opened door, not saying a word.

Im here about photographs, said Harry.

What sort of photographs?

Of birds.

What birds?

Pigeons, of course.

Both men laughed. Harry put his hands on his hips, pulling his jacket back a little so that Millar could see that there was nothing tucked into the front or sides of his waistband. He looked ever so smart in his pin-stripe suit.

If you phone my father, hell give you the details.

Millar opened the door a little more and stepped into the back garden. So did the boy, staying close to his father.

Will I do it now? thought Harry. Will I shoot him now, with his boy watching?

Why dont you ask your boy to fetch a pencil and paper, so I can write down my fathers telephone number? The boy disappeared into the house.

Harry pulled the gun out and took aim. He looked at Millars face.

Millar didnt look frightened. He just looked a little disappointed. Irritated, even. Harry could see that he didnt like being tricked.

Aah, said Millar, quietly.

Anatomy of a Killing: Life and Death on a Divided Island, by Ian Cobain, is published by Granta

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Anatomy of a killing: Harry pulled the gun out and took aim - The Irish Times

Anatomy

The anatomy of a machine safeguarding project – The Fabricator

Figure 5 A safeguarding system installer inspects an electrically interlocked rolling gate to allow access for coil loading. Images provided

Machine operators suffer approximately 18,000 injuries and 800 deaths per yeara stat from ICW Insurance Companiesand year after year, machine guarding violations show up on OSHAs top 10 list of most frequent citations. Considering OSHAs recent renewal of its National Emphasis Program on amputations targeting metalworking manufacturers and the ever-increasing costs related to employee injuries, fabricators have a strong incentive to implement a rigorous and consistent machine guarding program.

The challenge is putting together an organized, systematic machine safeguarding plan. The task can be daunting given the typical manufacturing facility that has machines of varying years of manufacture and function. Which machines pose the greatest danger? What tasks should be eliminated or modified because they put employees in unacceptably hazardous situations? How do companies begin to determine what hazards their machines present and how should they be mitigated?

The best and most effective way to tackle this overwhelming task is to understand where the hazards are, why they exist, and how frequently employees are exposed to them. Once companies know where their exposures lie, they can then determine the best course of action to mitigate risks.

The following four-stage, methodical approach can lead to a successful and dynamic safeguarding program. It begins with a machine guarding survey that serves as a high-level triage and helps prioritize projects. Stage 2 is a machine-specific risk assessment, and stage 3 addresses the mitigation of the identified risks. The final stage implements the well-thought-out design and involves operator training (or retraining) on how to work with rather than around the new safeguarding.

A full facility review often performed by a third party, the machine guarding survey typically takes a day or two on-site. Outside evaluators, who havent seen the operation day in and day out, offer fresh experienced eyes and typically are more critical of a companys processes. The surveyors spend five to 10 minutes per machine evaluating the status of six key elements of machine safety (see Figure 1).

Each element is given a score, and the combined total is used to determine what level of priorityhigh, medium, or lowneeds to be given to that machine. Machines with a score greater than 40 are considered high priority and warrant an additional formal risk assessment or, in some cases, immediate safeguarding.

The survey does not consider the severity of harm for the identified hazards. For example, an unguarded machine may receive a high survey score because of a missing guard, but the subsequent risk assessment determines that the actual risks that unguarded machine creates are low, because the hazards have little chance of injuring an operator severely.

The term risk assessment is often used in a generic sense; some use it to describe the guarding survey in Stage 1. Multiple definitions of risk assessment can be found in various documents, including those from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). OSHA calls the process a job hazard analysis.

Regardless, in the current context the risk assessment differs from the machine guarding survey in its depth of investigation and its ultimate purpose determining whether identified risks are acceptable and how unacceptable risks can be mitigated. The goal is to reduce unacceptable risks to an acceptable level.

The machine guarding risk assessment should involve a broad team, including top managers, floor supervisors (production, operation, maintenance, and setup personnel), machine operators, and an outside safeguarding professional. Each plays a critical role and brings unique perspective.

Figure 1 Six questions provide insight into a machine's safety fitness.

The project must involve top managers who can commit the proper resources. Without buy-in from the top of an organization, any safeguarding program is doomed to fail from insufficient support and a lack of proper funding.

The floor supervisor knows how things actually work in the shop. Many safeguards, once implemented, impede work flow because operational variables best understood by the supervisor are not distilled into the design. The floor manager voices his or her opinion about whether a given safeguarding scheme will impede or enhance throughput.

Machine operators best understand the intricacies of each machine and manufacturing process, and their input into safeguarding requirements is invaluable. Ultimately, they must use the safeguarding system successfully and not be compelled to circumvent it.

Outside safeguarding professionals bring a range of expertise in applicable standards and regulations. They should have a deep knowledge of safeguarding technology, and they should be relied upon to do a correct installation and retrofit of the safeguarding system.

Companies in different industries use different risk assessment systems and platforms. The most widely recognized are found in several documents: for domestic machinery, ANSI B11.0, Safety of Machinery, General Requirements and Risk Assessment; and for global machinery, ISO 12100, Safety of Machinery General Principles for Design Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction, and ISO 13849-1, Safety of Machinery. Each offers a series of logical steps to systematically examine the hazards associated with machinery, and each has examples of risk scoring systems that assess the required level of hazard mitigation (see Figures 2 and 3).

With these tools, those performing the assessment gather information about the machine, identify the tasks performed, and score the hazard associated with each. They then determine if those hazards are acceptable or not. If they are not acceptable, they move on to Stages 3 and 4, designing and implementing protective measures to reduce the unacceptable risks to an acceptable level. Any risk determined to be acceptable at this point should be mitigated through administrative measures such as operation-specific training.

Both the machine guarding survey and the machine guarding risk assessment should be treated as living documents. As machines are cycled in and out of the shop or are repurposed, these documents must be updated to reflect the changed environment.

The design stage considers all that has been learned in the previous two stages. If it doesnt, the possibility of a safeguard inadequately reducing risk or rendering a critical task undoable is tremendously high.

Consider a fabricator and stamper that, after having gone through a machine guarding review, found that it had an automated coil slitting line with multiple hazards. Existing guarding was minimal. A deep-dive machine guarding risk assessment identified several unacceptable hazards.

The goal was to maximize safety without compromising efficiency. The line was divided into sections(1) coil loading and decoiling, (2) slitting, (3) pit and wiping, (4) recoiling, and (5) slit-coil unloadingand all five had unacceptable hazards. Considering this, the best solution was to design a perimeter fence enclosure for the entire line (see Figure 4). No individuals would be permitted within the guarded area. The design lowered risk to acceptable levels, but it needed to be customized because it prevented operators from performing necessary tasks.

Figure 2 This risk scoring system is based on the one described in ANSI B11.0, table 2.

To keep residual risks at acceptable levels, the safeguarding design needed to allow access inside the enclosure only during controlled conditions. Operators also needed to change how they performed some of their tasks.

Coil Loading and Decoiling. For instance, to allow a forklift to load the unslit coil onto a coil car, a large rolling gate was added to the perimeter fence (see Figure 5). To prevent the line from operating when the gate was opened and the coil was being loaded, the gate was electrically interlocked. With the coil loaded onto the car, an operator used a hold-to-run pendant to drive the coil car to the decoiling reel. The operator never rode on the car itself, and the residual risks created by the coil car movements were deemed acceptable. That said, to do the job properly, the operator needed to be close enough to observe the coil car as it approached the reel and transferred the coil. That meant he needed to be within the enclosure. To allow him to do this, an interlocked human access door was also added.

Slitting. To ensure proper alignment when threading the coil, the operator needed to watch the edge of the coil closely as it entered the slitting knives. An interlocked human access door was added to allow easy entry from the control console outside the perimeter guarding. Inside the controlled area and with the door open, the operator could activate an enable switch and a hold-to-run pendant to jog the coil. This required the main control system to be modified to allow only jog-mode operation when the door was open and the enable switch activated.

Pit and Wiping. After the material exited the slitting knives, it dropped into a pit and then into a wiping operation that cleaned the material before recoiling. Wiping pad pressure was maintained with an air cylinder, adjusted regularly during operation. The operator also needed to observe the wiping operation to know when to make the adjustment and watch the slit material while it traveled through the pit. The safeguarding solution moved the pressure adjustment valve outside the fencing and added a camera system so that the operator could observe at a station outside the enclosure.

Recoiling. During setup, the operator needed to guide the slit material onto the recoiling arbor while inside the enclosure, so a second enable switch and hold-to-run pendant station was added at this location to provide for this. Operators also monitored recoiled material tension during regular operation, so a second camera system was added for this purpose, allowing operators to observe the material through a monitor at the control console.

Slit-coil Unloading. The now recoiled slit material was unloaded by forklift and taken to the next operation. Limited spacing made it impossible to add another rolling gate. Instead, a large gap in the fencing allowed the forklift to access the recoiling arbor, and a safety laser scanner guarded the gap. Whenever something or someone was detected within the scanned area, the line was prevented from running.

After the safeguarding installation, operators could continue to function productively, yet at lower risk. Thats the ideal of a properly safeguarded system.

What made it possible? First, the installation crew worked with a detailed plan with clear instructions on how the safeguards should function. They documented changes to existing machine controls clearly and accurately. And because operators were involved early in the process, training was simple.

An organized approach makes safeguarding installation less disruptive. Triaging helps address the most hazardous operations first, and the four-stage approach helps prioritize hazards thoroughly and objectively.

Such a detailed approach to safety should help any manufacturer create a successfully guarded shop. The ideal guarding makes jobs both safe and easy, so that operators will want to work with the machine guards rather than around them. After all, working around poorly designed safeguards can be more dangerous than having no safeguards at all.

Douglas Raff is a Certified Machinery Safety Expert (TV Nord) and an owner of Paragon Industrial Controls Inc. As a member of the Safety Council within the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA), Raff conducts safety certificate and other educational courses for FMA and other organizations.

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The anatomy of a machine safeguarding project - The Fabricator

Anatomy

Anatomy of a Play: Blidi Wreh-Wilson ends the Panthers threat – Touchdown Wire

Tua Tagovailoa has a high bar -- -a nearly impossible one -- to earn family honors for this week.

His brother, Taulia Tagovailoa, led Maryland to an astounding 45-44 overtime victory over Minnesota on Friday. Taulia Tagovailoa is a sophomore and the younger brother of Tua, who will make his first NFL start Sunday for the Miami Dolphins against the Los Angeles Rams.

Taulia was 26-of-35 for 394 yards and three touchdown passes in the victory that saw the Terps overcome a 38-21 deficit in the fourth quarter.

Tagovailoa capped the winning drive in overtime, stretching to touch the pylon with the...

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Anatomy of a Play: Blidi Wreh-Wilson ends the Panthers threat - Touchdown Wire

Anatomy

Anatomy of a Breast Cancer Survivor: The Blessings In Having A Tribe – Essence

The African proverb says it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it also takes a village to support a woman through her breast cancer journey, as there are many, many facets.

When I reflect on my journey, I see the blessings in breast cancer. Cancer is the gift that keeps on giving, but Ill focus on the gift of love.God showed me His unconditional love through so many people.I will one day write a book to share in great detail the thoughtful gestures of love and sprinkles of hope I received throughout my journey, but Ill just stick to the highlights for now.

Family Is Everything

My great aunt, Lenora Howard, affectionately known in our very Southern family as Aunt Sister, received her first mammogram at the age of 69. A mass was detected in her left breast and she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer.

When I shared with her the news of my diagnosis, she told me about her own experience. She elected for a partial mastectomy to remove the left breast and to keep the right breast.

The doctor asked me if I wanted implants, and I said, Naw, I dont want nothing, just get me out of this hospital! she enthusiastically recalled.

Aunt Sister didnt undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and was prescribed Tamoxifen (hormone therapy drug that blocks the effects of estrogen in the breast tissue) for five years.

I never had any problems thereafter. I was truly blessed. The Lord blessed me, she reflects.

The diagnosis didnt stop her from living her best life. Now, at the age of 97, Aunt Sister is proof that surTHRIVERship is real and possible at any age. She demonstrated a level of strength that I channeled to fight my own diagnosis of Stage 2 breast cancer.

The nonagenarian is an important piece of my microcosm of co-surThrivers including an extremely loving family, church community, sorority sisters and sister friends.My village prayed fervently for, over and with me.

There were times when they would send dinner via UberEats or deliver home-cooked meals when I was too tired to cook. There were days in which I felt overwhelmed and sad, and my cheerleadeer, Aunt Angie, would deliver a smoothie, make-up or the latest item from the Skims collection to cheer me up, because I had to stay snatched during the journey, Chile. Every familial gesture equipped me with the I can do it strength to power through.

A Mothers Love

I thank God for the blessing of my mother, Ivy. I benefited from her level of selflessness and great attention to detail. (I refer to her as my lovegiver, not caregiver, by the way.) I have observed firsthand her remarkable strength through countless, agonizing doctors appointments and steady composure from day to day.

Before cancer, I had lived away from home since my early twenties.Now, more than a decade later, I had to move back home.I felt hopeless in a sense because I didnt want to be a burden, but she made being a patient so easy.

Ive had the chance to reconnect with her as The Levingston Ladies, our dynamic duo/mother-daughter moniker that encapsulates the closeness of our relationship. I understand what it means to serve others, as she demonstrates it through her lifelong devotion to church and community. She accepted her calling to the Deacon Ministry at our home church a decade ago and is a faithful servant. Shes a retired school administrator who is passionate about mentoring aspiring principals and assistant principals. And, shes a lifetime member of our illustrious sisterhood, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, through which she epitomizes our emphasis of service to all mankind.

Mom Ivy has taught me the definition of unconditional love. She humbly paused her activities during my chemo journey to take care of her only child in every aspect, even if that meant bathing me when I could hardly stand up in the shower after my bilateral mastectomy. That is unconditional love.

She has maintained steady composure since the day I called her on the phone with the life-changing news to present day. She channels it through her late father, my Baw-Baw, whom I know, along with grandmother Wade Ella, are the reasons I successfully powered through this rigorous health journey.

In the Black community, we often call on our ancestors to help us through challenging times, and lean on them for a mere portion of strength they channeled to endure years of slavery and racism.

I lean on their strength.

Teammates

I learned the value of relationships. When people show up for you and are fully present, thats a blessing. When friends go out of their way to help you, thats a blessing.

I realize some people dont know how or what to do, and thats understandable, so heres a list of action items I think will be helpful in supporting someone during a breast cancer (or any) health journey:

Purpose and Passion

The journey shifted my focus to hone in on whats most important in life, personally and professionally me. I understand the power of taking care of self mentally, spiritally, emotionally, and of course, physically.

Even in the midst of my own breast cancer struggles, I had to be mindful of keeping other people together. If youre married or partnered, or have children, you have to be strong for them, too.

Historically, we as Black women are known to hold it together for everyone. Michelle Obama eloquently said during a Q&A at the 25th ESSENCE Festival that its hard to put ourselves first as women. And, were so busy taking care of others, we forget to take care of ourselves. She encouraged us to prioritize self-care. Auntie Michelle, I hear you loud and clear and am making self a top priority!

My diagnosis prompted me to make a purposeful pivot and realize that serving others is so much more meaningful than climbing the ladder or keeping up with the Joneses. I gained clarity and a true sense of purpose (hello SurThriver!) coupled with a deeper desire to live like Ive never lived before. I now put more thought and consideration into my legacy.

Breast cancer gave me hope and so much peace, and confirmation that we as women are not alone. When youre down in the valley, youll find many blessings in there, too.There is a bright, sparkly light at the end of every tunnel.

Lyndsay Levingston Christian is a multimedia talent, host and adjunct professor based in Houston, Texas. Follow her journey via @lynzchristiantv and join the movement @Sur_Thriver

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Anatomy of a Breast Cancer Survivor: The Blessings In Having A Tribe - Essence

Anatomy

Medical students and faculty commemorate the Class of 2023’s ‘first patients’ at Body Bequest Program memorial – The South End

Members of the Class of 2023 take a moment at this year's memorial ceremony for those who gave their lives to their medical education.

The use of whole body cadavers as an educational tool in the first year of medical school is a privilege at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

While many schools have moved away from the whole-body cadaver as the central teaching tool for human anatomy in the first year of medical school, the Wayne State University School of Medicine gives all of its freshmen medical students a valuable lesson by introducing them to their first patients in the Gross Anatomy Lab.

What sets us apart is that we still maintain a program of full-cadaver dissection supplemented with prosections as well as electronic platforms for learning, said Gross Anatomy Director and Professor of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences Paul Walker, Ph.D. Anatomy education has not been pushed to the side at our school, but rather has become the central element of their medical education experience. In addition to learning as much as possible about the human body, our program also emphasizes teamwork and professional development as physicians-in-training.

The cadavers are donations to WSUs Body Bequest Program. Each year, the School of Medicine closes out the academic year by remembering and celebrating the men and women who donated their bodies to the education of these physicians-in-training.

This years Body Bequest Program Memorial was held Oct. 23 in the expansive green space of Oakland Hills Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Novi, where a dedicated space for the programs cremated remains exists. The minister-officiated service is held yearly, usually in May, to pay respects to the donors, and includes the interment of the cremated remains of 80 donors. Donor families, medical students and key faculty attended the service, organized by the Body Bequest Programs Mortuary Supervisor Barbara Norgan, B.S., M.S.L. The name of each individual buried was read aloud by medical students before second-year medical student Hangil Lee played violin, and later, acoustic guitar.

Class of 2023 medical students Preston Hale and Rachel Cevigney spoke at the service of their gratitude for the bodies they met in their first weeks of medical school.

They were and will always be extraordinary to us. They were and will always be our first patients. I think I speak for most of our classmates when I say, I will never forget them, what I learned from them, and how I aim to carry and earn the gift they gave me throughout my career, Hale said.

Dean and Vice President of Health Affairs Mark Schweitzer, M.D., also spoke at the ceremony, weaving in stories of his own mothers passing, his faiths traditions, and the gratitude he has for those who donated their body to the school.

They have done something to bless us all, that we can never repay them for. And I thank them, and I thank you, he said. It has affected people that they have never met, and will never meet in this world, but it is probably the best good deed that anyone can do. Im truly sorry, but also truly thankful.

Many schools have reduced time available for student dissection, instead employing cadaver material that has already been dissected, termed prosections, and have also transitioned to image-based virtual and electronic platforms that require little to no actual dissection, Dr. Walker said.

Dissection of the human body is critical to the development of a physician. While one can learn the facts of anatomy from textbooks and pictures, the experience of dissection is transformative, he said. Your loved ones unselfish gesture has also contributed to the professional development of each student. One cannot leave the dissection room without feeling some compassion and humility. These are emotions that physicians-in-training must experience. Students also develop a spirit of teamwork during dissection. They learn to step forward when its time to lead, as well as step back while still contributing to the teams success.

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Medical students and faculty commemorate the Class of 2023's 'first patients' at Body Bequest Program memorial - The South End

Anatomy

The New Season Of Greys Anatomy Could Be Its Very Last – Refinery29

Season 16 of Grey's Anatomy was forced to wrap early because of the pandemic, cutting off at least two important episodes in the season's plot. The last we saw of Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and the gang, they were putting their brains and various surgeon skills to work trying to figure out what was wrong with Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.). Everyone who wasn't in Richard's OR was either giving birth, watching their relationship fall apart, or having an existential crisis. Utter chaos all around you know, a typical Grey's episode.

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The New Season Of Greys Anatomy Could Be Its Very Last - Refinery29

Anatomy

City Optometry academics’ ongoing contribution to Gray’s Anatomy – City, University of London

Academics from the Division of Optometry and Visual Sciences have been writing the ocular chapters of the world famous Grays Anatomy for thirty years.

For the last thirty years optometry academics at City have edited the eye and orbit chapters of the world famous medical textbook, Grays Anatomy, which was published in its 42nd edition last week.

For the last fifteen years, the responsibility of editing these chapters has fallen to John Lawrenson,Professor of Clinical Visual Science and Ron Douglas Professor of Visual Science, both from the School of Health Sciences. They follow in the footsteps of their colleague, the late Gordon Ruskell, a classical anatomist who had been Professor of Ocular Anatomy at City.

Professor Ruskell made many fundamental discoveries in the field of ocular innervation, and educated optometrists at the university for almost 40 years. Not surprisingly, he became one of the section editors of Grays Anatomy and the author of two chapters on the eye and visual system for editions in the 1990s.

Professor Lawrenson and Professor Douglas became subsequent contributors and rewrote and updated Professor Ruskells original chapters for the 150th Anniversary edition (the 40th) of Grays Anatomy in 2008, including many of Ruskells unpublished drawings and microscopic images, generated from the microscope slide collection at City that has been used to teach generations of optometry students.

Anatomy; descriptive and surgical with text and dissections by Henry Gray and illustrations by Henry Vandyke Carter was first published as a relatively slim volume in 1858 and was an immediate bestseller. It has been known, if not always loved, to generations of medical students throughout the world as simply Grays Anatomy and has never been out of print in either the UK or America since its initial publication. Arguably, it is the most successful and influential textbook ever written.

Gray died at the age of only 34 of smallpox just after the second edition was published in 1861.However, such was the popularity of the book that it continued to flourish and has been rewritten on numerous occasions and now covers over 1,600 pages. The most recent editions contain none of the original authors drawings or text. Gray and Carter would be astonished by the changes in their book with the inclusion, for example, of many in vivo images created by the new generation of scanning techniques and its availability as an ebook.

Commenting on their work on the latest edition of Grays Anatomy, Professor Ron Douglas said:

In this edition we were asked to highlight variation. Students love certainty and want to be told that something is a certain way.Sadly, life is rarely that simple.Biology is endlessly variable and the eye is no exception.You could probably identify your partner from their eyes alone, due to their unique external characteristics.Internally, the eye is equally variable.

The contributions from Professor Lawrenson and Professor Douglas can be seen in chapters 44 and 45 of the 42nd, and latest edition of this classic book.

Read more about the latest edition of Grays Anatomy on the Elsevier website.

Visit the Division of Optometry and Visual Sciences webpage.

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City Optometry academics' ongoing contribution to Gray's Anatomy - City, University of London

Anatomy

‘Kay’s Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body’ – Newstalk

Author Adam Kay's best selling book This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor gave readers a unique insight into the life of a medical professional and was the bestselling narrative non-fiction title of the decade.

Adam Kay joined Mark on Friday's edition of The Hard Shoulder to talk about his new book 'Kays Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body'.

Can the human body be demystified for children and adults alike?

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'Kay's Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body' - Newstalk

Anatomy

Why ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Alum Katherine Heigl Described the Izzie-George Affair as ‘A Ratings Ploy’ – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Katherine Heigl of Greys Anatomyportrayed Dr. Isobel (Izzie) Stevens for almost six seasons from 2005 to 2010.Frequently in storylines with co-star T.R. Knight, who played Izzies BFF George OMalley,Heigl was surprised when writers had the besties take a romantic turn.

While Heigl enjoyed working closely with Knightley, she felt conflicted over the storyline. With George married to Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) at the time, Heigl felt Izzies actions were out of character.

In season 3, the friendship between George and Izzie turned physical after a night of too much alcohol. After confessing his actions to Callie, George embarked on a romantic relationship with Izzie. Heigl didnt think the plot twist was in line with her characters values.

That was kind of a big change for Izzie, wasnt it, after she was so up on her moral high ground, Heigl told Vanity Fair in 2007. They really hurt somebody, and they didnt seem to be taking a lot of responsibility for it.

Heigl wanted to remain true to her character and struggled with Izzies deviating from her wholesome persona.

RELATED:Why Greys Anatomy Alum Katherine Heigl Said This Comment Bothered Me The Most After Her Exit

I have a really hard time with that kind of thing, the Greys Anatomy alum revealed. Im maybe a little too black-and-white about it. I dont really know Izzie very well right now. Shes changed a lot. Im trying to figure her out and keep her real.

While she didnt fully agree with the shift between George and Izzie, Heigl realized that Greys Anatomy producers had to keep things interesting and hold their spot as a top-rated show.

It was a ratings ploy, the Suits actor remarked of the Izzie-George coupling. It was absolutely something that shocked people it wasnt predictable, and people didnt see it coming. Its our fourth season; theres not a lot of spontaneity left.

Heigl knew the series producers and writers needed to continually attract viewers, but she didnt want to compromise the integrity of the show.

Business is business, I understand that, she explained. But I want there to be some cooperation between the business end and the creative end, so theres some way of keeping it real.

Heigl revealed she was initially all for the romance between George and Izzie, mainly because it meant more time with Knight.

I was really excited about it in the beginning, she toldEntertainment Weeklyin 2010. I got to work more with my best friend and thats awesome.

When viewers werent buying in to the love story angle of the two pals, George and Izzie went back to platonic status. Clearly, Knight also held Heigl in high regard and enjoyed their time together on set.

RELATED:Greys Anatomy: Ellen Pompeo Singled Out Katherine Heigls Problem on the Show

A lot of us care way too much what people think, he told Vanity Fair. But its refreshing to have someone who speaks the kind of truth where your mouth just drops. To her, being up-front and straight with people is paramount. Theres a real freedom to that that Im still working on, but shes already got it. Its intrinsically who she is.

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Why 'Grey's Anatomy' Alum Katherine Heigl Described the Izzie-George Affair as 'A Ratings Ploy' - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Cell Biology

Angelika Amon, cell biologist who pioneered research on chromosome imbalance, dies at 53 – MIT News

Angelika Amon, professor of biology and a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, died on Oct. 29 at age 53, following a two-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer.

"Known for her piercing scientific insight and infectious enthusiasm for the deepest questions of science, Professor Amon built an extraordinary career and in the process, a devoted community of colleagues, students and friends," MIT President L. Rafael Reif wrote in a letter to the MIT community.

Angelika was a force of nature and a highly valued member of our community, reflects Tyler Jacks, the David H. Koch Professor of Biology at MIT and director of the Koch Institute. Her intellect and wit were equally sharp, and she brought unmatched passion to everything she did. Through her groundbreaking research, her mentorship of so many, her teaching, and a host of other contributions, Angelika has made an incredible impact on the world one that will last long into the future.

A pioneer in cell biology

From the earliest stages of her career, Amon made profound contributions to our understanding of the fundamental biology of the cell, deciphering the regulatory networks that govern cell division and proliferation in yeast, mice, and mammalian organoids, and shedding light on the causes of chromosome mis-segregation and its consequences for human diseases.

Human cells have 23 pairs of chromosomes, but as they divide they can make errors that lead to too many or too few chromosomes, resulting in aneuploidy. Amons meticulous and rigorous experiments, first in yeast and then in mammalian cells, helped to uncover the biological consequences of having too many chromosomes. Her studies determined that extra chromosomes significantly impact the composition of the cell, causing stress in important processes such as protein folding and metabolism, and leading to additional mistakes that could drive cancer. Although stress resulting from aneuploidy affects cells ability to survive and proliferate, cancer cells which are nearly universally aneuploid can grow uncontrollably. Amon showed that aneuploidy disrupts cells usual error-repair systems, allowing genetic mutations to quickly accumulate.

Aneuploidy is usually fatal, but in some instances extra copies of specific chromosomes can lead to conditions such as Down syndrome and developmental disorders including those known as Patau and Edwards syndromes. This led Amon to work to understand how these negative effects result in some of the health problems associated specifically with Down syndrome, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Her expertise in this area led her to be named co-director of the recently established Alana Down Syndrome Center at MIT.

Angelikas intellect and research were as astonishing as her bravery and her spirit. Her labs fundamental work on aneuploidy was integral to our establishment of the center, say Li-Huei Tsai, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience and co-director of the Alana Down Syndrome Center. Her exploration of the myriad consequences of aneuploidy for human health was vitally important and will continue to guide scientific and medical research.

Another major focus of research in the Amon lab has been on the relationship between how cells grow, divide, and age. Among other insights, this work has revealed that once cells reach a certain large size, they lose the ability to proliferate and are unable to reenter the cell cycle. Further, this growth contributes to senescence, an irreversible cell cycle arrest, and tissue aging. In related work, Amon has investigated the relationships between stem cell size, stem cell function, and tissue age. Her labs studies have found that in hematopoetic stem cells, small size is important to cells ability to function and proliferate in fact, she posted recent findings on bioRxiv earlier this week and have been examining the same questions in epithelial cells as well.

Amon lab experiments delved deep into the mechanics of the biology, trying to understand the mechanisms behind their observations. To support this work, she established research collaborations to leverage approaches and technologies developed by her colleagues at the Koch Institute, including sophisticated intestinal organoid and mouse models developed by the Yilmaz Laboratory, and a microfluidic device developed by the Manalis Laboratory for measuring physical characteristics of single cells.

The thrill of discovery

Born in 1967, Amon grew up in Vienna, Austria, in a family of six. Playing outside all day with her three younger siblings, she developed an early love of biology and animals. She could not remember a time when she was not interested in biology, initially wanting to become a zoologist. But in high school, she saw an old black-and-white film from the 1950s about chromosome segregation, and found the moment that the sister chromatids split apart breathtaking. She knew then that she wanted to study the inner workings of the cell and decided to focus on genetics at the University of Vienna in Austria.

After receiving her BS, Amon continued her doctoral work there under Professor Kim Nasmyth at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, earning her PhD in 1993. From the outset, she made important contributions to the field of cell cycle dynamics. Her work on yeast genetics in the Nasmyth laboratory led to major discoveries about how one stage of the cell cycle sets up for the next, revealing that cyclins, proteins that accumulate within cells as they enter mitosis, must be broken down before cells pass from mitosis to G1, a period of cell growth.

Towards the end of her doctorate, Amon became interested in fruitfly genetics and read the work of Ruth Lehmann, then a faculty member at MIT and a member of the Whitehead Institute. Impressed by the elegance of Lehmanns genetic approach, she applied and was accepted to her lab. In 1994, Amon arrived in the United States, not knowing that it would become her permanent home or that she would eventually become a professor.

While Amons love affair with fruitfly genetics would prove short, her promise was immediately apparent to Lehmann, now director of the Whitehead Institute. I will never forget picking Angelika up from the airport when she was flying in from Vienna to join my lab. Despite the long trip, she was just so full of energy, ready to talk science, says Lehmann. She had read all the papers in the new field and cut through the results to hit equally on the main points.

But as Amon frequently was fond of saying, yeast will spoil you. Lehmann explains that because they grow so fast and there are so many tools, your brain is the only limitation. I tried to convince her of the beauty and advantages of my slower-growing favorite organism. But in the end, yeast won and Angelika went on to establish a remarkable body of work, starting with her many contributions to how cells divide and more recently to discover a cellular aneuploidy program.

In 1996, after Lehmann had left for New York Universitys Skirball Institute, Amon was invited to become a Whitehead Fellow, a prestigious program that offers recent PhDs resources and mentorship to undertake their own investigations. Her work on the question of how yeast cells progress through the cell cycle and partition their chromosomes would be instrumental in establishing her as one of the worlds leading geneticists. While at Whitehead, her lab made key findings centered around the role of an enzyme called Cdc14 in prompting cells to exit mitosis, including that the enzyme is sequestered in a cellular compartment called the nucleolus and must be released before the cell can exit.

I was one of those blessed to share with her a eureka moment, as she would call it, says Rosella Visintin, a postdoc in Amons lab at the time of the discovery and now an assistant professor at the European School of Molecular Medicine in Milan. She had so many. Most of us are lucky to get just one, and I was one of the lucky ones. Ill never forget her smile and scream neither will the entire Whitehead Institute when she saw for the first time Cdc14 localization: You did it, you did it, you figured it out! Passion, excitement, joy everything was in that scream.

In 1999, Amons work as a Whitehead Fellow earned her a faculty position in the MIT Department of Biology and the MIT Center for Cancer Research, the predecessor to the Koch Institute. A full professor since 2007, she also became the Kathleen and Curtis Marble Professor in Cancer Research, associate director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at MIT, a member of the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology at MIT, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Her pathbreaking research was recognized by several awards and honors, including the 2003 National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award, the 2007 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, the 2008 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Award in Molecular Biology, and the 2013 Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine. In 2019, she won the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science, and was named to the Carnegie Corporation of New Yorks annual list of Great Immigrants, Great Americans. This year, she was given the Human Frontier Science Program Nakasone Award. She was also a member of the NAS and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Lighting the way forward

Amons perseverance, deep curiosity, and enthusiasm for discovery served her well in her roles as teacher, mentor, and colleague. She has worked with many labs across the world and developed a deep network of scientific collaboration and friendships. She was a sought-after speaker for seminars and the many conferences she attended. In over 20 years as a professor at MIT, she has mentored more than 80 postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates, and received the School of Sciences undergraduate teaching prize.

Angelika was an amazing, energetic, passionate, and creative scientist, an outstanding mentor to many, and an excellent teacher, says Alan Grossman, the Praecis Professor of Biology and head of MITs Department of Biology. Her impact and legacy will live on and be perpetuated by all those she touched.

Angelika existed in a league of her own, explains Kristin Knouse, one of Amons former graduate students and a current Whitehead Fellow. She had the energy and excitement of someone who picked up a pipette for the first time, but the brilliance and wisdom of someone who had been doing it for decades. Her infectious energy and brilliant mind were matched by a boundless heart and tenacious grit. She could glance at any data and immediately deliver a sharp insight that would never have crossed any other mind. Her positive attributes were infectious, and any interaction with her, no matter how transient, assuredly left you feeling better about yourself and your science.

Taking great delight in helping young scientists find their own eureka moments, Amon was a fearless advocate for science and the rights of women and minorities and inspired others to fight as well. She was not afraid to speak out in support of the research and causes she believed strongly in. She was a role model for young female scientists and spent countless hours mentoring and guiding them in a male-dominated field. While she graciously accepted awards for women in science, including the Vanderbilt Prize and the Women in Cell Biology Senior Award, she questioned the value of prizes focused on women as women, rather than on their scientific contributions.

Angelika Amon was an inspiring leader, notes Lehmann, not only by her trailblazing science but also by her fearlessness to call out sexism and other -isms in our community. Her captivating laugh and unwavering mentorship and guidance will be missed by students and faculty alike. MIT and the science community have lost an exemplary leader, mentor, friend, and mensch.

Amons wide-ranging curiosity led her to consider new ideas beyond her own field. In recent years, she has developed a love for dinosaurs and fossils, and often mentioned that she would like to study terraforming, which she considered essential for a human success to life on other planets.

It was always amazing to talk with Angelika about science, because her interests were so deep and so broad, her intellect so sharp, and her enthusiasm so infectious, remembers Vivian Siegel, a lecturer in the Department of Biology and friend since Amons postdoctoral days. Beyond her own work in the lab, she was fascinated by so many things, including dinosaurs dreaming of taking her daughters on a dig lichen, and even life on Mars.

Angelika was brilliant; she illuminated science and scientists, says Frank Solomon, professor of biology and member of the Koch Institute. And she was intense; she warmed the people around her, and expanded what it means to be a friend.

Amon is survived by her husband Johannes Weis, and her daughters Theresa and Clara Weis, and her three siblings and their families.

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Angelika Amon, cell biologist who pioneered research on chromosome imbalance, dies at 53 - MIT News