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29/12/2014

BBC ALBA - An Dotair Mòr

The story of Alex Macleod, the North Uist doctor who pioneered the air ambulance.

Documentary telling the story of Dr Alex Macleod and how he looked after the people of North Uist for over 40 years.

The story of Alex Macleod, a legendary doctor who looked after 3,000 people on 16 inhabited islands for over 40 years. There were no hospitals, no telephones and few roads when he first arrived in 1932. With perseverance through any weather, he used all possible means to reach patients living in remote locations.

On foot, by boat or horse, he tended accidents and emergencies. With ingenuity and compassion, he used what he carried in his two coat pockets to treat epidemics and help deliver thousands of babies.

Combining testimony from Dr Alex's patients and colleagues with archive material and exquisitely filmed contemporary sequences on North Uist, this documentary film is a character portrait of a truly remarkable man. Pioneer of the life-saving air ambulance service, he successfully argued for the best medical provision for his patients.

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