In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries skin grafting has advanced considerably, accelerated by exponential medical progress. Skin grafting is a type of surgery. During the procedure, providers take healthy skin from one part of the donor’s body and transplant (move) it to cover skin that has been damaged or is missing. Within a few days, the grafted skin begins to develop its own blood vessels and connect to the skin around it. However, it is not a new skill, it has been long practise. The Ebers Papyrus of ancient Egypt contains a brief treatise on xenografting (skin grafting). Around 500 years later, members of the Hindu Kamma caste are described as performing skin grafts which included the usage of subcutaneous fat. Although, it was not until the 1800s, that skin grafting was widely accepted as a safe and effective treatment for wound management and burn injuries, today it is the main form of treatment.
There are two types of skin grafts. The first is called partial-thickness, it is the most common type. It involves removing a thin layer of skin from a healthy part of the body, either the patient’s own skin or a donor. The second is a full-thickness graft. It involves excising a defined area of skin, with a depth of excision down to the fat. The full thickness portion of skin is then placed at the recipient site. A full-thickness skin graft is more risky, in terms of the body accepting or rejecting the skin, yet it leaves only a scar line on the donor section. In 1982 Simon Weston a burn victim, survived with 46% burns over his body. Today over 40 years later, cases of patients with severe burns, a person can have up to 90% of their body surface area covered with skin grafts, and still survive.
The story is told of a young man who was badly burned in a boiler explosion. To save his life, physicians covered him with 6000 square centimetres of donor skin, as well as sheets of skin cultured from a stamp sized piece of his own unburned skin. A journalist asked him do you ever think about the donor who saved you? The young man replied, ‘to be alive because of a dead donor is too big too much, so I don’t think about it.
It is difficult to think that someone had to die for him to live but for Christians that is the story of Christ. The holy Bible tells us that God the son, Jesus Christ, came and died on the cross, he took the punishment for the sins of those who would believe on him. In doing so he became the substitute for men and women, he took their place. If you believe in God the son and repent of your sins then you can have that eternal life, that is new life in him. Just like the burn victims needed new skin to cover their injuries. So you and I need the new life of Christ to cover our sins. This can be overwhelming to think about but we need to remember, it is worth thinking about. The sacrifice of Christ should never be forgotten, it is a life changing sacrifice and it can bring peace, joy, happiness and contentment to people’s lives. The Bible speaks of someone who had such a reaction. He was a man from the country of Ethiopia who was searching for the truth. He was reading the Bible when the evangelist Phillip came along and spoke to him and through his explaining of the word, the Ethiopian realised he needed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that he repented of his sin and believed in Christ as his Saviour. This Ethiopian received the new life of Christ and went home rejoicing. By trusting in Christ he got to experience this peace, joy, happiness and contentment. His life was changed forever, just like those who receive the gift of a skin graft. There wounds are covered and healed by the new skin. I wonder today have you ever trusted in Jesus to heal you!
P. Pilgrim pilgrimway101@yahoo.com
