Over the past few years as part of the promotion of the Stannington Collection the striking images to the right have become well-known and their impact is certainly recognised. Nonetheless, the story behind this patient's battle with TB has not been developed much further. The young girl in question was admitted on 1st May 1925, which is too early for us to have a patient case file for her. Fortunately the sanatorium's visiting physician, Dr Hunter, wrote an article for The Lancet in 1928 explaining the details of her case.

The first image shows her when she was first admitted at the age of 8 years and 11 months at which point she was 3ft. 8 ¼ in. (1.12m) tall but weighed only 2st. 2lb. 4oz. (approximately 13.75kg). The extreme emaciation alongside marked anaemia and a fluctuating temperature were all caused by abdominal TB. Immediately after admission her artificial light treatment was commenced with 2 minute exposure to a mercury-vapour lamp every day, rising to 5 minutes. Over the coming months there was no improvement in her temperature and shockingly she continued to lose weight, having lost a further 4 ¼ lb. by January 1926, and so the light treatment was stopped.

With the onset of spring natural sunlight therapy was begun and artificial light treatment recommenced at the patient's request. From this point on improvement in her condition was noted, her temperature was reduced and she regained the weight she had lost since entering the sanatorium. In November 1926 treatment with collosol iodine was begun as well and over the next view months her progress is described as remarkable. The next three images demonstrate the progress she made after discharge in 1927, when she returned home and went back to school, and the final image shows her in 1936 age 20, fully recovered and with no evidence of her childhood illness.

(Information taken from T. C. Hunter, 'A Case of Abdominal Tuberculosis with Extreme Emaciation', The Lancet, 1928, 212, 752)