dinsdag 24 februari 2009

An ill wind







On December the 3rd 1943, the German army bombarded the harbour of Bari in Italy, which was full of boats containing supplies for the Allied armies, who were fighting against the Italians. One of the bombs struck the USS Liberty ship, which carried an extremely high amount of explosives and 100 tons of mustard gas. Many civilians and soldiers were caught by the gas, which affected and killed the white blood cells. Rhoads, a doctor who worked for the US army and lived in Bari at that time, was so curious about the effect of mustard gas on the human body that he began to examine patients. He discovered that infections were extraordinarily, even in patients who were seriously affected by the mustard gas. Rhoads found out that the gas only damages the white blood cells, so it could be used in curing leukemia (a disease which causes an excess of white blood cells in the human body) and it was the beginning of the development of chemotherapy.




stijn steuperaert

2 opmerkingen:

  1. Hi,
    I like your blog because you used simple language to describe an interesting event, which can be understood be an average human being. With the first sentence you are bringing us at the face of the place, and later on you develop the story. The title that you used is not too pretentious, like some people made to attract people to read their amassing stories.

    Branimir Njezic

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  2. I like the subtle use of an Englis proverb in the title as a teaser.

    Flow and style ok
    Grammar can improve in:
    He discovered that infections were extraordinarily [adjective needed], even in patients who were seriously affected by the mustard gas

    good job,

    olaf

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