Travels with a Scalpel: From Bicycle Beginnings to Building Hospitals

From a bicycle journey to Africa that began in the UK, to decades spent transforming surgical care, Travels with a Scalpel is a remarkable story of adventure, purpose, and compassion. Chris Lavy traces three intertwined journeys: a physical journey across continents; a professional journey from inexperienced junior doctor to surgeon, teacher, and hospital builder; and a far-reaching journey to improve surgical education and reconstructive care for children across East, Central, and Southern Africa. Along the way, he encounters hardship, humour, friendship, and the enduring resilience of people determined to build a fairer world. Written as a set of stories, at its heart, this is a book about children whose lives can be transformed by the gift of surgery - children who dream simply of walking, running, and living without pain. It is also a deeply human account of the people who dedicate their lives to making those dreams possible. Honest, inspiring, and profoundly moving, Travels with a Scalpel is both a memoir and a call to action: an invitation to anyone in medicine or anyone seeking to make a difference, to consider what part they might play in healing a divided world.