| Charles Schepens |
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| 1912 births | |
| schepens, charles | |
| 2006 deaths | |
| deaths by stroke | |
| belgian americans | |
| ophthalmologists | |
| french resistance members | |
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Charles L. Schepens (. EARLY LIFE: MEDICAL TRAINING AND MEMBER OF THE FRENCH RESISTANCE Schepens was born in in 1935 at State University Of Ghent in Belgium. Schepens then trained in ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London , England prior to World War II . After the Germans invaded Belgium in 1940 , he became a medical officer in the Belgian Air Force After the fall of Belgium, Schepens escaped to France where he became active in the French Resistance smuggling documents and people over the Pyrenees to Spain during 1942 and 1943. Schepens was twice captured by the Gestapo . He worked under the alias of Jacques Perot, a lumber mill operator in the French Basque village of Mendive "War-hero eye surgeon dies at 94". ''IrishExaminer.com.'' 6 April, 2006.. Aware that the Germans had learned of the operation, he escaped to England. OPHTHALMOLOGIST, RETINAL SPECIALIST, AND INVENTOR After the war, Schepens resumed his medical career at Moorfields. In , Schepens founded The Retina Society and was its first president from 1968 to 1969 and is the largest independent eye research organisation in the United States. Schepens invented the for the repair of Retinal Detachment s. The use of these techniques has raised the success of retinal reattachment surgery from 40% to 90%. During his career, Schepens wrote four books and over 340 research papers. AWARDS AND RECOGNITION In 1999 , Schepens was chosen by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery as one of the ten most influential ophthalmologists of the century. The American Academy Of Ophthalmology named him as one of their inaugural laureates in 2003 as recognition for his contribution to the field. In 2006 , his earlier heroics were also rewarded when the consul general of France presented him the French Legion Of Honour award for smuggling over 100 people from France into Spain. His life's story has been told in Meg Ostrum's 2004 book, ''"The Surgeon and the Shepherd: Two Resistance Heroes in Vichy France"'' {Link without Title} . In 2006 , Schepens died of a stroke at the age of 94. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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