The Gunshot That Changed Medicine

In 1822, a young man, Alexis St. Martin, was accidentally shot in the stomach. Miraculously, he survived, and even more amazing was the hole between his chest and stomach became permanent. This allowed a US Army surgeon – William Beaumont – to spend a decade studying St. Martin’s digestive system, making Beaumont the “Father of Gastric Physiology”. This is the very weird story of the gunshot that changed medicine.