Desert doctor

 In 1956, Dr Eva Hoeck was the only European woman in the Aden Protectorate (now part of Yemen). This group of images tells how Dr Hoeck, working in a makeshift surgery, operated on the fractured skull of a girl who had fallen down a well. The girl’s uncles held down her legs while the doctor worked only with local anaesthetic.

 

For Brake, it was a perfect event-based picture story. For years, he considered the image of the sweat-drenched uncle kneeling by the operating table to be one of his best. The story was published in Illustrated magazine.