The English Surgeon

In the beginning, I thought this might be another heavy and somber documentary. But it is touching and humanity. I like the end "What are we if we don’t try to help others? We are nothing. Nothing at all", very breathtaking.

BBC, 2007

The English Surgeon (PBS Broadcast: September 8, 2009)
What is it like to have power over life and death, and yet to struggle with your own humanity? This is the story of acclaimed British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, who has traveled to Ukraine for 15 years to treat patients who have been left to die; of his friend and medical colleague in Kyiv who carries on the fight despite official hostility and archaic surgical conditions; and of a young patient who hopes that Henry can save his life. Tense, heartbreaking and humorous, The English Surgeon is a remarkable depiction of one doctor's commitment to relieving suffering and of the emotional turmoil he undergoes in bringing hope to a desperate people. A BBC/ITVS International Production.

The English Surgeon (2008): The Doctor Who Went Into the Ukrainian Cold
By MANOHLA DARGIS, July 24, 2009, NY Times

Dr. Henry Marsh, 'The English Surgeon' (Listen to the Story, September 8, 2009)
Fifteen years ago, British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh went to Ukraine as a visiting lecturer, and found a medical system that was decades out of date. Dr. Marsh talks about his collaboration with a Ukrainian doctor to save lives and bring hope to patients, and a PBS documentary titled The English Surgeon that tells his story.