By the time he got to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights, 25 miles south of the Loop, Farmer Ralph Douma, 72, was already in desperate shape. His jaw was stiff, and he could hardly open his mouth. He had difficulty in swallowing, and he was suffering from severe pains in his legs and back. St. James doctors had no trouble diagnosing Douma's problem: he was dying from tetanus (lockjaw) caused by a dirty wooden splinter he had picked up in his chicken yard 13 days before.
Without much hope, the doctors started all the standard treatments: a hefty shot of tetanus...
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