A famed American surgeon named Dr. Walter Freeman created a special Lobotomy. This made him famous, then infamous. They called it the “ice pick lobotomy”.
This method did not need drilling. Instead entering the skull by use of a long, sharp pick slid through the eye-socket.
The first ever lobotomy in the United States was performed at the George Washington University Hospital in 1936. The doctors were James Watts and, of course, Walter Freeman.
Many considered it a huge success. Until some high-profile problems. In the form of the Kennedy Family.
JFK’s Sister & The Special Olympics
Dr. Freeman carried out his technique on the wrong patient. The sister of American President John F. Kennedy.
Rosemary Kennedy when she was 23 years old. Her family was worried. So many seizures and violent mood swings. They were desperate for a solution. It was her father who setup the surgery.
Freeman chosen as the doctor cause of his “ice-pick” technique.
It failed. Rosemary spent the rest of her life in a hospital. Kept secret and only rumor until much later in life.
This event may have inspired her sister Eunice. She created the Special Olympics in 1962.
Working in Trans Allegheny
Dr. Freeman worked at Trans Allegheny which became his experiment ground. As one nurse recalls in 1939,
“It was my second day of work when I was asked to bring the doctor a male patient. I did not know who he was, or why he needed the patient. Found a good one, who could dress himself and go to the bathroom alone.”
They say the patient was not able to do or feel anything after the surgery.
Freeman performed many lobotomies. Including a record week. Up to 228 inside Trans Allegheny.
Horror Show Character Based on Him
In the show American Horror Story. Season called “Asylum”. The doctor portrayed by James Cromwell. It’s said he was based on Dr. Walter Freeman.